CBS’ “60 Minutes” will air an interview with pop superstar Michael Jackson on Sunday, marking Jackson’s first public comments since his Nov. 20 arrest on suspicion of child molestation.

Ed Bradley interviewed Jackson for about 30 minutes Thursday at a hotel in Los Angeles, CBS spokesman Kevin Tedesco said Friday.

Jackson, 45, is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. He remains free on $3 million bail.

CBS also announced Friday that it has rescheduled a Jackson music special that had been abruptly postponed last month after the molestation charges surfaced. The special, “Michael Jackson Number Ones,” will air on Friday, Jan. 2, CBS entertainment spokesman Chris Ender said.

“We certainly wouldn’t have rescheduled the entertainment special if he hadn’t addressed the situation elsewhere on our network,” Ender said.

Jackson’s last television interview, with British journalist Martin Bashir, was seen by 27 million people on ABC last February. But that interview so infuriated the Jackson camp that they made Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe available to deny some of the things said in the Bashir special.

Bradley had been pursuing an interview with Jackson even before the molestation charges. The CBS newsman traveled to Jackson’s Neverland estate last February for an interview, but Jackson got cold feet and canceled it at the last minute.

The CBS entertainment special had been set to air the day before Thanksgiving, to coincide with the release of a greatest hits package. Besides Jackson performance footage, interviews had been conducted with Dick Clark, Beyonce Knowles , Mary J. Blige and others about Jackson’s impact on pop culture.

Credit: Associated Press