StoryCast '21: Michael Jackson - The Trial Of The Century

In 2021, Sky News is marking some of the century’s biggest news events through the personal stories of lives defined by unforgettable moments from the last 21 years.

A veteran of movie cameos and music videos, Eddie Moss was one of the most successful Michael Jackson impersonators in the world in 2005. But then he took a job like no other.

At the time Michael Jackson was one of the world’s most iconic celebrities. But headlines about his personal life and not his music had come to tarnish his reputation. Now he was due to go on trial in California on multiple charges of child abuse.

The eyes of the world were watching.

But the trial judge stopped cameras from recording events in the court room, posing a major problem for the news organisations - how would they tell their international audiences what was happening inside the court?

Sky News together with E! Entertainment decided to attempt something no one had tried before — deliver daily reconstructions of key evidence using a cast of Hollywood actors hired to play the main roles.

The crucial role - that of Jackson himself - went to Eddie Moss. He quickly realised that his future and wellbeing were on the line too.