Various Lisa quotes about MJ
What Lisa Marie said about Michael
Official statement, 1994:
"My married name is Mrs. Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson. My marriage to Michael Jackson took place in a private ceremony outside the United States [11] weeks ago. It was not formally announced until now for several reasons; foremost being that we are both very private people living in the glare of the public media. We both wanted a private marriage ceremony without the distraction of a media circus. I am very much in love with Michael, I dedicate my life to being his wife. I understand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family and living happy, healthy lives together. We hope friends and fans will understand and respect our privacy."
Vibe magazine, June 1995:
Michael is a true artist in every facet of its nature - extremely aesthetic and very, very romantic. This is who he truly is despite degrading comments made in the past by certain larva. Michael, as well as myself, have been severely underestimated and misunderstood as human beings. I can't wait for the day when all the snakes who have tried to take him out get to eat their own lunch and crawl back in the holes from which they came. We know who they are and their bluff is about to be called.
RS Magazine, year unknown:
RS: But, to be clear, is it fair to say that in private you were doing all the things that married people do: kissing, going to bed together, having sex?
LMP:"Yeah. That was part of it, for a while. And then it became the Def Con 2. It just got really ugly at the end."
Playboy Magazine, 2003:
PRESLEY: [Danny] intervened with Michael. But even then he wasn't vocal. He just let me know he wasn't happy about that one.
PLAYBOY: So you left Danny, an insecure, struggling musician, to marry Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.
PRESLEY: I walked away from Danny and went into Michael. And that was stupid. I thought it would help, because Michael and I had so much in common, our upbringings. And then it hit me in the face a year later.
PLAYBOY: Other than Danny, who know you were going to marry Michael?
PRESLEY: No one except the people who arranged the wedding.
PLAYBOY: Why didn't you tell your mom?
PRESLEY: Because I knew she was against it. She was already saying, "Don't you think this is just good timing for him? Wake up." But I wouldn't hear anything about it.
PLAYBOY: What did Priscilla say when you told her you had married him?
PRESLEY: She called me casually one day and said, "Ugh, there are helicopters flying over my house, driving me crazy. They're saying that you married Michael Jackson." And I was silent. And she went, "No, you didn't. Lisa! Tell me." And I went, "Yup, I did." And I have to say I got a bit of a kick out of it, just for old times' sake. One more middle finger going up.
PLAYBOY: Lots of other people suspected it was a publicity stunt, because he had been accused of child molestation.
PRESLEY: We met casually at a friend's house, and he immediately disillusioned me of any preconceived ideas I had of him. He said, "I know you think this about me, you think that," and I immediately said, "Oh my god, you're so misunderstood!" I forgot who he was within 20 minutes, because we were so locked into a conversation.
PLAYBOY: You're saying that Michael Jackson is seductive?
PRESLEY: He's not sexually seductive, but there is something riveting about him. He doesn't let people see who he is. When he does, it's hard to shake. I got caught up and thought I was in love with the man. I don't know what else to say.
PLAYBOY: When you announced the marriage, you said in a press release, "I understand and support him." Please explain Michael to those of us who really don't understand him.
PRESLEY: Here's the thing: For awhile, Michael was like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain. At one time he was really good at manipulating a Howard Hughes type of image: "He's mysterious, fascinating." He became this freak. And now he can't get out from under it. When you're the king of your own palace, there are no morals or ethics or integrity. Everyone will kiss your ass and then give you the push that knocks you over.
PLAYBOY: Did you and he ever have children join you in your bed?
PRESLEY: Never. Never, never, never, never. I never saw him sleep in bed with a child, ever.
PLAYBOY: Did you ever see him with photos of nude children?
PRESLEY: Never. Never.
PLAYBOY: Do you have any reason to think he's a child molester?
PRESLEY: If I'd had any reason to suspect that, I would have had nothing to do with the guy. I had no reason to, other than the allegations themselves. The only two people who know are Michael and that kid in the room. I've never seen him behave inappropriately. He was great with my kids. He does have a connection with kids, babies. He's a kid, and other kids sense that in him.
PLAYBOY: It would help his case if he'd stop saying, "Yes, I sleep with children."
PRESLEY: I know! Someone should call him and go, "Would you just stop saying that? It's not working for you!"
PLAYBOY: Did you and Michael discuss having kids?
PRESLEY: Yeah. [Laughs] I got out of that one. "I just don't think it's a good idea right now." But I knew that's what he wanted. And I knew Debbie Rowe was offering to do it for him while we were married, according to him. She was a nurse who had a crush on him and offered to have his babies.
PLAYBOY: Was he trying to leverage you into agreeing?
PRESLEY: Kind of. "Debbie Rowe says she'll do it." Ok, have Debbie Rowe do it! And it's funny, when I imagined having a child with him, all I could ever see was a custody battle nightmare.
PLAYBOY: He just wanted to find someone to bear his children.
PRESLEY: I think so, but I don't know.
PLAYBOY: Did you watch his TV interviews last winter with Martin Bashir?
PRESLEY: I watched, because I was on the radio tour that week and I was being asked about it everyday. I was like, Could there be any worse timing? I walked away in 1996. It's not something consuming my thoughts anymore.
PLAYBOY: When Diane Sawyer interviewed you and Michael, she asked if you two had sex, and you were indignant. Can you see how the marriage looked suspicous to people.
PRESLEY: I can see that, only because that's his thing, not mine. That always upset me. I was married for several years to a bass player nobody knew and before that never dated a celebrity. I never did anything to try and get publicity. I got caught up in Michael's thing, which was manipulation. I was like, "fuck you people, that's not who I am. Why am I being blamed for a publicity stunt? Oh, I'm Miss Aspiring Singer, and now I want a record deal? That's why I'm with him?"
PLAYBOY: It sounds like you think he used you.
PRESLEY: I'm not going to say he did or he didn't. There are things that don't look good, that's all I can say. And most people saw it at the time except me.
PLAYBOY: When did the relationship go sour for you?
PRESLEY: Not long after Diane Sawyer. I started to wake up and ask a lot of questions. I don't want to go into detail, but it went downhill pretty quick.
PLAYBOY: What about your kiss at the Video Music Awards in 1994? It looked staged and awkward.
PRESLEY: It looked awkward because I wanted out of my skin. At the 11th hour, he says, "I'm gonna kiss you." I was like, "No, I don't want to do that. Do we have to? That's bullshit." On the way there I kept saying, "Do we have to?" I squeezed his hand so hard that I cut off the circulation. He wouldn't tell me when it was going to happen.
PLAYBOY: It was reported that you asked him for a divorce while he was in the hospital recovering from "exhaustion."
PRESLEY: Not true. There was a bit of a showdown in the hospital, and I didn't understand what was wrong with him. I didn't know what he was up to. When I started asking too many questions about what was wrong, he asked me to leave. This is the real story. He said, "You're causing trouble." The doctors wanted me to go. I freaked out, because it was all too familiar. When he got out, I called him and said, "I want out."
'Paper' interview, 2003:
The biggest misconception is that I married Michael for some reason, that I'm some wannabe pop star, wannabe whatever.
MSN chat, 2003:
dandystuff in Onstage_1 asks: Do you hate Michael Jackson?
Lisa_Marie_Presley says: No I do not hate Michael Jackson. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifferent. I'm indifferent.
Spiegel interview, 2003:
Spiegel: Did MJ influence you musically?
Presley: Of course he has inspired me, though actually only later. Most of the time of our marriage I was just happy being his wife. I was really attracted to his eccentricity. He lives in his own little world. It's such a shame all the stuff that's being said about him today. You shouldn't underestimate him. He can be very funny and very charming if he wants to.
Newsweek interview, 2003:
"I actually did fall in love with him, but I don't know what was on his menu."
60 Minutes with Diane Sawyer, 2003:
D: Okay — Michael Jackson?
L: Oh, God.
D: Michael Jackson?!
L: I thought you were going to go here first. I was hoping you'd forgot.
D: Why did you marry Michael Jackson?
L: Okay, can I just, well...
D: What were you doing?
L: Um, let me, let me now... I've been trying to go through this. I haven't thought much about this, what I was going to say and I just figured it would fly out of my mouth. Okay, first of all, he was very quick to... the first time I met him, sit me down and go, "listen, I'm not gay, I know you think this, I know you think that", and he started cursing and started, you know, being a normal person. And I was like, "wow!" So I get caught up in that - I'm pulled in right away. Like, "wow, you're so misunderstood. Oh my God, you're this guy." I fell into this whole, "you poor, sweet misunderstood thing, I'm going to save you." I fell into that. I fell in love with him, I did.
D: In love?
L: Yes, I fell in love at the time. Now...
D: Sexual attraction?
L: I told you everything I said was the truth.
D: Sexual attraction?
L: At the time. Yeah.
D: What did your mother say?
L: She called me and said, you know, "oh Lisa, there's helicopters outside the house and they're saying you married Michael Jackson", and I go... I was just quiet and she goes, "you didn't?" She goes, "you didn't!" and I go, "yeah, I did," and then it was just, you know, that was that was game on for me. Whoo! Mum doesn't like it, let's go!
D: She didn't you know you were going to get married?
L: No, no, that was quick, that was like run away and do this quick thing.
D: And you did live together?
L: Yeah.
D: I didn't believe that.
L: Well, let's just put it this way - if he was in town, he was at my house.
D: Which was how often?
L: I don't know. It started to get less and less towards the end.
D: Again, you can slug me on this question but I've got to go back. So these were, like, romantic nights?
L: Mmm, mmm, yeah. I don't remember them very well, but yes. I mean, it was normal. I wasn't going to get married if it wasn't that.
D: By the time Lisa Marie Presley married Michael Jackson, Jackson reportedly had been treated for addiction to painkillers. He was also under siege. He had been investigated for child molestation with a 12-year-old boy. Jackson settled a civil suit with the family reportedly for millions of dollars and his camp implied he was the victim of extortion.
L: I was already friensd with him, there was already some romantic stuff going on a little bit before that happened. So it was like, I was already like, you know, I was the only one he would be calling so I felt all privileged and, you know, that he was trusting me and telling me what happened and it was very convincing and I believed him, at the time.
D: But she says her mother looked at the timing of the marriage and tried to make her see something else.
L: That's what my mum was trying to point out like, "hello, are you awake? Can you see this might be co-ordinating or coinciding with something else?" and I didn't see that, like, I was young. I don't know. I mean, it looked a little suspicious but at the same time I know that he loved me, you know, as much as he can love someone, I think he did.
D: What do you mean as much as he can love someone?
L: I just mean, you know, as much as he can be capable of doing that. It's not something he's used to doing, is having relationships with women, you know? He's sort of been a one-man show his whole life.
D: How did it end? What happened?
L: It just kind of went really sour, really fast.
D: But you filed for divorce from Michael?
L: Yes.
D: And how did you tell him that was it?
L: It was when he was, you know, it was over the phone. I'd had enough. There was a lot of stuff going on then. It got really ugly at the end. It wasn't pretty but I don't want to get into it.
D: Did he fight you getting a divorce?
L: No, he... I think he got on to, you know, getting somebody else pregnant, right? Or having a baby. That's what he wanted. He seemed to get on that pretty quick. You know, I don't know.
D: Did it shake your confidence?
L: Yeah, I pretty much needed to be mopped up off the floor after that one.
Blender interview, 2003:
Q: Do you ever think that maybe you got married too young?
L: No, but I did live my life in reverse. All the friends I had back then were crazy. Now they're married with kids, and I've turned back into a fucking 12-year-old. So that's funny. I got married early and had two kids and lived very stably for six years and then went fucking crazy.
Q: Like going from Danny Keough... to Michael Jackson!
L: You know, nobody knows him. He's like the Wizard of Oz, working this whole machine about himself. And he doesn't let a lot of people see who he really is, but he let me see, and he was very normal. I felt like I was talking to someone I knew, like a brother. OK, maybe we shouldn't have gotten married, but we were both raised a little differently and were in situations that normal people would not be in, so we had a connection. I don't see why people can't see that. They kept saying, "She wants a singing career, she wants this, she wants that," and I'm like, "Wait a minute - I have never once, of my own free will, been in the spotlight." I got his stigma, I was caught in his loop. We're not in contact now.
Q: Do you now think "Was I crazy?"
L: Yeah, of course. I don't relate anymore to the person I was at that time. I was really in Michael's world - I went into his head, into his land, and it took me years to get out of it. It's quite a web you go into. Being the small young bug that I was.
