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Humiliated Bashir could be sued
Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 14.06.05Last night's verdicts were humiliating for Martin Bashir, whose documentary about Jackson kick-started the abuse case.
The singer is now expected to sue Granada, which made the programme, and Bashir for damaging his name.
Aides for Jackson began legal action against the British TV company within days of its British screening in February 2003, claiming breach of confidence.
They claimed Bashir, who interviewed Jackson at his Neverland ranch, had broken a promise to allow the star to vet the programme.
Twenty-seven million watched Living With Michael Jackson on ITV1 in February 2003. The show was later screened in the U.S. by the ABC network.
In the documentary, young cancer sufferer Gavin Arvizo was filmed holding the singer's hand and resting his head on his shoulder.
Jackson also admitted sharing his bedroom with children. In Bashir's hands, this became the story.
Never before had viewers been made to feel so uncomfortable about the singer's relationship with children.
A short time later, Arvizo accused Jackson of child molestation.
Bashir won a lucrative contract with ABC News on the back of the show.
Last night, a colleague said he was too busy working to comment on the trial.
ABC said Bashir's documentary had nothing to do with the subsequent trial.
It claimed the charges related to events wrongly alleged to have happened after the documentary was made.
