Debbie Rowe Jackson Interviewed On KNBC-TV

May 21, 1997

The following is an interview given by Debbie Rowe to Los Angeles reporter Chuck Henry for KNBC-TV on May 21st, 1997. The on-camera interview was shown with part commentary and part interview.

Kelly Lange: Debbie Rowe, she is Mrs. Michael Jackson, she's the mother of this years most famous baby, she has never talked to anyone or given any kink of interview. She is rarely even photographed, but she did talk to my partner Chuck Henty about motherhood, marriage and Michael. And he has the exclusive interview for us now, Chuck...

Chuck Henry: Thanks Kelly, Debbie Rowe works as a nurse at a doctor's office She keeps her job, she goes to work every morning, she really is an ordinary woman. But she's involved in an extraordinary situation.

Debbie Rowe: I haven't abandoned him, a lot of people think I've abandoned him, I haven't abandoned him. I haven't abandoned my husband. I'm there, it's not like I'm that far away. I can be there in 13 hours.

Chuck Henry: And Debbie flies to Paris twice a month for a weekend visit. Do you miss your son?

Debbie Rowe: Sure, and I miss Michael a lot too. But, I don't feel like I have to be there, I don't think being there 24 hours a day makes a better relationship.

Chuck Henry: Debbie says there was no prenuptial agreement, and no financial payoff for her carrying Jackson's child, which she says was conceived naturally.

Debbie Rowe: I would never do this for money, I did this because I love him. That's the only reason I did this.

Chuck Henry: Given all the stories about Michael Jackson, does Debbie feel totally comfortable about this arrangement?

Debbie Rowe: Obviously I wouldn't have had a child.

Chuck Henry: And you wouldn't leave your child.

Debbie Rowe: And I wouldn't leave our child there.

Chuck Henry: If any of those things were true.

Debbie Rowe: If any of them were true, If I even suspected any of them were true.

Debbie Rowe: He feeds him, he changes his diapers, he reads to him, she sings to him. If he's on the phone, the baby's in his arms. If he's having a meeting, the baby's there. He takes naps with him, he's the, I don't need to be there. I don't need to be there, cause Michael's, I'd have nothing to do.

Chuck Henry: On her visits to Paris, Debbie says the three of them just...

Debbie Rowe: Get up in the morning, watch cartoons, cause I like cartoons, play with baby, all day, just hang out.

Chuck Henry: Having the baby was her idea, it was a subject talked about before Jackson's marriage to Lisa Marie Presley.

Debbie Rowe: He did, he loved her very very much, still does, still cares about her very much. But, uh, it didn't work out, and um, he was devastated.

Chuck Henry: After the divorce, Debbie, who met Jackson while working at a doctor's office, again brought up the subject of children.

Debbie Rowe: "Michael," I said. "You know my, my offer still stands."

Chuck Henry: So if you want to be a parent

Debbie Rowe: So I said, I said...

Chuck Henry: I'm available?

Debbie Rowe: So I said, "If you still want to be a daddy, I want to do it."

Chuck Henry: A week after that story broke, Debbie got a call from Jackson.

Debbie Rowe: He asked me if I would get married, and I said, "You really want to?", and he said, "Yeh." And I said, "It's not gonna affect our friendship, and we're s till going to be friends, right?" And he said, "Promise." "Because, the first time this marriage interferes with our friendship we're going back to being friends, and forget this other stuff." And he says, "It won't happen, I promise."

Chuck Henry: So now you've had the baby.

Debbie Rowe: It was the world's best experience.

Chuck Henry: And through it all Michael never left her side.

Debbie Rowe: Did not let go, of my hand the whole time. It was like, "No, no, go see what he looks like." "No I'm not going to leave." "No, you have to, you have to go."

Chuck Henry: Do you want to have more children?

Debbie Rowe: Yes.

Chuck Henry: Does Michael want to have more children?

Debbie Rowe: Yeh.

Chuck Henry: So you will have more children.

Debbie Rowe: Oh, we hope so, yeh!

Chuck Henry: Sooner, later?

Debbie Rowe: Well, It depends on our scheduling. [Laugh]

Chuck Henry: Interesting story, Debbie says that she and Michael also plan to have a home together, someday.

Chuck Henry: Debbie Rowe and Michael Jackson don't live together everyday, she flies to Paris about twice a month to see her husband and her baby.

Debbie Rowe: I think a lot of husbands, or fathers would say, "You need to be here, this is your duty, this is your job." And it's not my job, it's not my duty. And he understands that. And he understands that I need my independence, I need to still be Debbie.

Chuck Henry: Yes, she is Mrs. Michael Jackson, Yes, she is the mother of a 14 week old baby. So why isn't she living full-time with her little boy?

Debbie Rowe: We're untraditional people, he works there, and I work here. And I think that it;s better that a baby is with it's parent, whether it be his mom or his dad. More than he, the child, would be with a nanny. If the baby were here, it would be with a nanny, because I do work, everyday.

Chuck Henry: Now I notice that there are no pictures of the baby anywhere in this apartment, why is that?

Debbie Rowe: Well, my apartment had been broken into, and pictures had been stolen of Michael and I. And I don't want that to happen again. I also, am basically a very selfish person, when it comes to certain things, and this is one of them. I don't want to have to share my child, or the way he looks, or what he looks like, or adorable moments with any body.

Chuck Henry: Debbie says there are just a few people that either of them can trust, so they end up living a very quiet life together.

Debbie Rowe: I don't like to go out to dinner, I don't like to go to affairs, and things like that. I like to stay home, and I like spending time with him, and the baby.

Chuck Henry: Would you consider yourself Michael Jackson's best friend?

Debbie Rowe: I consider him my best friend, I would hope I am one of his closest friends.

Chuck Henry: Now Debbie also says that anyone who know her, knows that money is the last thing on her mind. She says that she and Michael have no financial arrangement, whatsoever. She also says they might have another child.

Chuck Henry: Let's address the speculation, Debbie Rowe says that she was not paid to have Jackson's child. The child was conceived the old-fashioned way, and there was no prenuptial agreement. Debbie Rowe is probably unlike any woman Michael Jackson has ever known.

Chuck Henry: Michael Jackson's wife loves to ride her Harley. An outspoken women, who's independent and self reliant.

Chuck Henry: Have you ever got Michael Jackson on this thing (Harley)?

Debbie Rowe: Yes, a couple of times.

Chuck Henry: Why is it, that you and Michael don't live together?

Debbie Rowe: I'm really independent, and Michael understands that, and I'm really fortunate to have a husband who does understand that. Who know that I need to work, and I need to have my own self. Because he is so big, and he is so Michael. I don't need to live with him 24 hours a day, he's working right now. And when he comes home we'll have time, and we'll be together more. I don't want to give up my job, I don't want to do that, be part of that lifestyle.

Chuck Henry: What would you say to people that would say, "Well, you and Michael must of had some sort of financial arrangement. that this is the way it was meant to be, you were just gonna have the baby."

Debbie Rowe: I don't need money, I would never, I would never do this for money. I did this because I love him. Michael Jackson is an entertainer, what he does on stage is everyone's business. You know, what he does with me, is my business, our life is our business, and no one else's.

Chuck Henry: This week tabloid papers are once again speculating, this time they're speculating that Mrs. Jackson's pregnant again. She says that is simply not true.