Friday, March 05, 2004
Raymone Bain speaks to Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts: How is Michael doing right now?
Raymone Bain: Michael is doing fine. And one of the things we are concerned about is all of the various messages that are out here about him. But I wanted to just set the record straight on his behalf, he is fine, he is in control, he has not been in detox, he has not been in rehab and several things have been exaggerated but he has not been arrested either for going in Wal-Mart with a mask on.
Roberts: Well you bring up a lot, because these are things being reported in a lot of publications, a lot of allegations floating around there that he is in Aspen, that he is being treated by a herbalist who has a little bit of a controversial background and that he claims he has the cure for AIDS, is he treating Michael?
Bain: No.
Roberts: No?
Bain: He's not, that's absolutely untrue. And that has been a problem for a long time. There are so many reports which we cannot understand what the source of these or who are behind all of these reports, and that's concerning him because people have been lining up for months now, speaking on behalf of Michael Jackson, we know Michael Jackson, I'm a friend of Michael Jackson, I'm a friend of the family of Michael Jackson, and he's really concerned about that and I guess that's one of the reasons I'm here now.
Roberts: So you're setting the record straight that he's not in detox.
Bain: Not in detox.
Roberts: But there was that incident you did refer to that a lot of people saw being in Wal-Mart in Aspen, he has a ski mask on.
Bain: Well, it was four degrees, you know, it's very cold in Aspen and he just walked in the store, he came out, he was in the car, and what happened was, from my speaking to the Sheriffs, is that a car pulled up next to his, beckoned for him to let the window down, "Can we see who's behind the mask?", he did so, "Oh Mr. Jackson, goodbye, nice meeting you", that's it!
Roberts: I know before he was saying he was treated poorly by Police in that past, but how was he treated this time by all authorities?
Bain: Very nice, and really it was not - I think it happened for maybe two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, that's it, "Can we identify who's behind the mask? Oh, it's Michael Jackson, thank you, have a nice day".
Roberts: Raymone, are you able to set the record straight about this possible custody battle with his ex-wife Debbie Rowe, a private Judge is now involved in this family law case, is he involved, Michael Jackson, in a custody suit battle?
Bain: Well I don't address legal issues. I leave that to his capable team, Ben Brafman, Mark Geragos, I think they do a wonderful job. And I cannot address legal issues, simply because Michael is under a gag order number one, and number two, I think they are fully capable of handling those kind of questions.
Roberts: How about this week when we saw all that Jackson family memorabilia that is now no longer in their possession, was Michael even aware of that?
Bain: I am not certain because I don't have a lot of details about that, so I cannot address that issue right now because I don't know much about that situation.
Roberts: A final question to you, of course the big headline is the sex abuse case that is coming up, his emotions, anger? Upset? Nervous? How does Michael feel about that?
Bain: Well, again I can't really address a lot of his feelings with regards to the trial but I can say, Michael Jackson is doing well, he's in control, he's in control of his organisation, he is not being dictated to, I speak to him several times a day, he is absolutely hands on, he has a great team, there is no dissention and Michael Jackson is doing just fine.
Roberts: And will he make himself more available to the public in future?
Bain: He will, you'll see a lot of surprises soon.
Roberts: I'm sure. Raymone Bain, thank you very much.
Bain: Thank you.
Roberts: -Appreciate you coming in this morning-
Bain: Thank you.