
Lisa Marie Presley had a strange premonition on that fateful day of June 25, 2009, that something was so wrong; her feelings of sadness were simply inexplicable. She had been crying and mopey all day, so she decided to climb in to bed to watch some mindless TV to escape from her emotions, but an hour later, her cell phone announced a text in a series of countless more, it was her buddy John Travolta with some shocking news: Michael Jackson had passed away.
Presley told Oprah upon hearing of Jackson's death she felt "real honest to goodness shock, not even tears. I was floored, honestly floored. All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years had just gone in to the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted."
Presley married to Jackson on May 26, 1994, just 20 days after she divorced the father, Danny Keough, of two of her children. The marriage between the daughter of a legendary great Elvis Presley and the son of an R&B dynasty seemed to truly find love that many thought could have been everlasting, but it wasn't. Citing irreconcilable differences after 18 months, Presley and Jackson divorced.
The exclusive interview revealed some interesting tidbits that perhaps fans didn't know. Presley claims that she did not know about Jackson's drug problem until the end of the marriage:
"I didn't really suspect and catch on until just before I filed for divorce. There was just an occasion, an incident where he had collapsed and he was in the hospital," Presley described the scene in 1995, when Jackson collapsed while rehearsing for an HBO concert and doctors blamed it on a viral infection.
"It was very confusing what was wrong. Every day there was a different report. And I couldn't tell what was happening," she added. "I couldn't really get a straight answer about what was happening with him, and I think we were all a little bit in the dark. At that point, I think I got from various indications that, that was going on then. There were times that I would pick him up from certain doctors' offices and he would not be coherent," Presley remembered.
During the time of their media circus marriage, there were some who thought that the nuptials were just for show and that the couple did not actually live as man and wife. Presley contends that her union and love for the King of Pop was very real, "I honestly can tell you, it was every sense a normal marriage. One of the very highest points of my life was when things were going really well and he and I were united together and he and I had an understanding about some of the people and things that could go on around him and he was with me on those things and we were a unit and I could take care of him," she told Oprah.
Presley also shared a time when Jackson alienated her during their time together:
"I felt that we were so united and then at some point he pushed me out. There was a very profound point in the marriage when he had to make a decision -- was it the drugs and the sort of vampires or me? And he pushed me away."
Presley does admit that she tried to save Jackson from an outcome, that not only she, but others predicted. Yet she admits that she simply lacked the tools to do so at the time:
"I wanted to 'save him.' I wanted to save him from the inevitable, which is what has just happened. His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.
"At that time, in trying to save him, I almost lost myself. I became very ill and emotionally/spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him. I was in over my head while trying. I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision. The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow."
Interestingly, Presley also points out distinct similarities between her father Elvis and her former husband:
"The one thing that correlates with Michael and my father on this subject, they had the luxury of creating whatever reality around them they wanted to create."
What was Presley's one regret with regards to Jackson?
"I know it's naive to think that I could have (saved him) but I wanted to. Had I made a call, had I stopped being so shut off from him, had I just said, How are you? I really regret that I didn't."


Comments: (26)
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By: clarke on 10/22/2010 10:40AM
PLEASE GOD, MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP.
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By: nemo on 12/26/2010 2:27PM
The Jackson family have hope thats stronger then life itself.They know that they will see their son again here on the earth. They believe that death is not forever.
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By: Israeline on 10/23/2010 3:50PM
Clarke God Almighty already has stopped Michael's journey here. Its the same people who care nothing for Michael when he was here on this earth who continues to do what they want with Michael's name. We can all honor Michael by standing up against the advesary who prostrates himself in our lives and determine that we will be destroyed. Honor, Michael, stand firm. Hear the lies now that Michael is no longer here to speak, but God Almighty, creator of the entire Universe, sees and hears all. Remember, when the strong man sees the thief coming he bars his door. Pray. PREY!
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By: rock on 10/23/2010 4:29PM
Michael, God bless you, Rest in peace.
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By: KW on 10/23/2010 10:49PM
Michael, King of Pop, rest in perfect Peace. Thanks your gift of music and the beautiful memory of seeing you perform live on stage.
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By: tj on 10/24/2010 12:52AM
LIFE IS A VAPOR!
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By: phyllis on 10/24/2010 7:57AM
MY NAME IS PHYLLIS. I JUST HAVE A COMMENT ON OPRAH.WHAT IS HER OBSESSION WITH MICHAEL JACKSON?HE'S GONE NOW. CAN'T HE REST IN PEACE? AS FOR S LISA MARIE GO'S , WHY DID HER UP NOW? THESE SO CALLED INTER-VIEW'S GO, SHE NEED'S TO STOP. WHY DON'T SHE INTER-VIEW SOME ONE LIKE LOUIS FARAKAN,HE'S A VERY INTERESTING PERSON.AND NO,I'M NOT A MUSLIM. YOU NOTICE HOW SHE ALMOST HAD A BABY COW , WHEN THT WOMEN WROTE HER BOOK ON HER.LEAVE MICHAEL JACKSON ALONE. THANK-YOU. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.
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By: phyllis on 10/24/2010 8:04AM
THIS IS PHYLLIS AGAIN. I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE MISTAKES IN MY COMMENT. I'M JUST SO SICK OF OPRAH THANK-YOU
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By: ooozzzzz on 10/24/2010 9:18AM
Lisa Marie Presley who is totally irrevelant and unimportant in my book, was in on this scam of a marriage just like Mike and his attempts to allude the gossip about him and sleeping with little boys. It was an arranged marriage set-up and now after his death, she now continues the lie and continuesti state that she loved him.
"The King Of Pop marries the daughter of the so-called (according to White folk) King Of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley.
And we are supposed to believe that?
A complete scam and total bullshyt.
Oprah's agenda here is to go out with a bang on top in the ratings since she's ending the show.
Tyler Perry, Lisa Marie Presley, upcoming interviews with MJ, parents, Katherine & Joe Jackson and an interview with ex-President George W. Bush right before the mid-term elections.
Oprah has been on top of her game for decades and she wants to go out on top and become argubly the best TV daytime talk show host ever before she goes into her second phase: full time to her own cable TV station.
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By: Beth on 10/24/2010 4:23PM
Let's face it people,Jackson had serious problems period.and so does Presley if you really look at the situation.Who cares now?,and why should she care now? Jackson is gone.Oprah I can't believe you!You bring up some of the dumbest things.
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