A Granada Television documentary featuring Jackson, in which he was extensively interviewed by journalist Martin Bashir, was shown first in the United Kingdom on February 3, 2003 and then in the U.S. three days later. The documentary caused controversy for Jackson, who was viewed holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with the child that would later accuse him of child molestation.[93]
In November 2003, Jackson and Sony Records put out a compilation of his number-one hits on CD and DVD titled Number Ones, which sold over 6 million copies worldwide.[94] In the United States it peaked at #13, it has been certified platinum by the RIAA and in the UK it sold 1.5 million copies[23][46][21]
On December 18, 2003, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit that felony, all regarding the same boy, Gavin Arvizo, under 14 at the time of the incident. The felony complaint stated that Jackson had committed seven lewd acts and two acts of administration of an intoxicating agent to enable the former accusations. Jackson denied these allegations, saying that the sleepovers were in no way sexual in nature. Jackson's friend, Elizabeth Taylor, defended him on Larry King Live, saying that she had been there when they "were in the bed, watching television. There was nothing abnormal about it. There was no touchy-feely going on. We laughed like children, and we watched a lot of Walt Disney. There was nothing odd about it."[95]
The People v. Jackson trial began in Santa Maria, California, on January 31, 2005, and lasted until the end of May 2005, with Jackson being acquitted on all counts in June. The District Attorney of Santa Barbara County in California, Tom Sneddon, has led two efforts against Jackson involving child molestation.[96] These prosecutions have led to complaints that Sneddon was motivated by a "vendetta" against Jackson. Evidence to support these claims include Sneddon joking about Jackson's greatest hits album being released on the same day as his arrest, calling Jackson "Wacko Jacko," and shouting "we got him, we finally got him" to the world media when he had at the time only just began an investigation and had limited information or evidence.[97]
Subsequently Jackson relocated to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, where he reportedly bought a house formerly owned by a Bahrain MP.[98] In September 2005, Jackson's spokesperson Raymone Bain announced that Jackson was busy producing an all-star charity single – titled "I Have This Dream" – to help raise relief funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In February 2006, Jackson's label released Visionary: The Video Singles, a box set made up of twenty of his biggest hit singles, each of which were issued individually week by week over a five-month period[99] and was released in the United States on November 14, 2006.[100]
Jackson's first documented public appearance since his trial was in November 2006 when he visited the London office of the Guinness World Records. There, he received eight awards, among them the "First Entertainer to Earn More Than 100 Million Dollars in a Year" and the "First Entertainer to Sell More Than 100 Million Albums Outside the United States".[101] Jackson was awarded the Diamond Award on November 15, 2006 for selling over 100 million albums at the World Music Awards. By 2006 Jackson had donated and raised several hundred million dollars for good causes, through his Dangerous World Tour, "Heal the World Foundation", charity singles and support of thirty-nine charities.[102][103]
Following the death of James Brown, Jackson returned to the United States to pay his respects. He, along with more than 8,000 people, paid tribute during Brown's public funeral on December 30, 2006.[104][105]
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