The King of Pop rode a tsunami of success for 40 years and his impact on pop culture is undeniable.
His untimely 2009 death shocked the world, but it was far less shocking to
those in his inner circle. However, the final months of his life were complicated and tragic.
Michael Jackson was the major breadwinner for his extended family and the sole guardian
of his three children, Prince Jackson, Paris Jackson, and Blanket Jackson. While Michael's
parents and siblings depended on him for financial support, his kids relied on him for everything.
Michael was a protective dad, rarely allowing his children to be seen in
public without disguises. He was also adored by his children. A year after
their father's death, Prince and Paris were interviewed on Oprah. Paris said,
"I kind of felt like no one understood what a good father he was. He was the best cook ever."
The day their father died the kids reportedly ran to chef Kai Chase for comfort, who told ABC News,
"We stood in a circle and we held hands together."
Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson, told Oprah Winfrey,
"You know what broke my heart more than anything else in this world? When people
at the hospital told us, 'You can leave now,' and Paris said, 'Grandma, where are we going?'"
The kids went to live with Katherine, and youngest child Blanket was adopted by his uncle,
Tito Jackson, when Katherine grew too frail to care for him full time.
In March 2009, The King of Pop announced a series of concerts called "This is It"
at the O2 Arena in London. The limited engagement was expanded to 50 concerts, and The Guardian
reported all of the one million tickets sold out in just hours. As Billboard noted, Jackson
promised in a press conference that he would perform the songs most popular with his fans.
Jackson worked day and night, staging and rehearsing the show. Choreographer Travis
Payne recalled to ABC News that Jackson was, quote, "not going to settle” for less than perfection.
Jackson's former manager Frank DiLeo echoed this sentiment, telling ABC News,
"He wanted to do it right. And he was strong enough. If he wasn't healthy,
if there was something wrong, I would have stopped him. No. There was nothing to stop."
But Jackson grew frail and thin as the year went on. "This is It" promoter Randy Phillips told ABC
News that he, quote, "hired someone whose job it was to be sure that he eats," and even then,
show director Kenny Ortega would tell Jackson to eat after cutting up his food for him.
Michael Jackson recorded the "This Is It" rehearsals in order to perfect the staging
and choreography of the show. However, he never released rehearsal footage to the public. But
concert promoters AEG Live decided to release that footage in the form of a documentary. According to
the Los Angeles Times, members of the Jackson family fought against production of the film.
However, the Jackson Estate, AEG Live, and Sony Pictures ultimately came to an agreement.
Following his death, Jackson's three children and his mother
sued AEG Live for negligence, asking for $1.5 billion in damages. The main question
during the trial was whether AEG Live or Jackson himself pressured Jackson's
personal physician to administer risky medications to enable Jackson to sleep.
University of Southern California law professor Jody David Armour told Rolling Stone,
"There were two strong narratives here,
and this jury was most persuaded by the personal-responsibility narrative.
There was evidence that Michael Jackson wanted Dr. Murray - personal choice. He's a big boy."
The jury ultimately ruled in favor of AEG Live in October 2013.
Burning the candle at both ends during the "This Is It" rehearsal period left Michael Jackson exhausted.
On top of that, he battled chronic insomnia. His former manager Frank DiLeo told
ABC News Jackson said he couldn't sleep because he was, quote, "all wound up" about the performances.
Cherilyn Lee, was a registered nurse employed by Jackson as a nutritionist.
She told ABC News that Jackson was intent on bringing in a doctor who could administer the
general anesthesia drug propofol as a sleep aid in the spring of 2009. Lee says she told Jackson,
"This is not a safe medicine. Please don't take this… you might not wake up the next morning."
He assured her his doctor said it would be okay provided that, quote,
"somebody is here to monitor me and wake me up."
Cherilyn Lee said one of Michael Jackson's aides reached out to her four days before his death,
saying the King of Pop needed to see her immediately. She said, quote,
"He was in trouble...and he was crying out."
Lee told ABC News,
"I could hear Michael in the background [saying] 'Tell her. Tell her that one
side of my body is hot, is hot, and one side of my body is cold, it's very cold."
Lee said she knew, quote, "somebody had given him something that hit
[his] central nervous system" and insisted Jackson go to the hospital.
According to ABC News, he never went. Lee's fear was that he had been administered Diprivan,
the brand name for propofol. Those fears would soon be confirmed by
the Los Angeles coroner's report. Jackson officially died of acute
propofol intoxication with benzodiazepine effect and ruled his death a homicide.
Concert promoters onboarded cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray in 2009, as Michael Jackson's
personal physician. Jackson insisted Murray be hired to treat his insomnia
and other medical issues and, as the AP reported,
Dr. Murray was paid $150,000 per month. As noted by ABC News, Murray said the morning
Jackson died he administered the drugs propofol, Lidocaine, Ativan and Versed.
CNN reported Murray told investigators that, for six weeks prior to Jackson's death,
"[I administered] 50 milligrams of the sedative propofol diluted
with the local anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip."
This was apparently Murray's attempt to ease Jackson off of the anesthesia.
The Jackson family desperately sought accountability from anyone involved
in their superstar relative's death. La Toya Jackson told Barbara Walters,
"I simply want justice. [...] In the court of
law. I want justice. They've taken a life away from us, from all of us."
In February 2010, Murray was hit with an involuntary manslaughter charge.
"The court has determined that the appropriate term is the high term of four years imprisonment."
In January 1984, Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire on the set of a Pepsi commercial.
As Biography noted, Jackson was given sedatives and painkillers to treat this injury.
Jackson's friend Miko Brando told Good Morning America it was, quote,
"hard to say" if this prescribed treatment was the catalyst for what followed.
Nine years later, The New York Times reported Jackson cut short his Dangerous tour to enter
rehab for his painkiller addiction. According to CNN, addiction expert Dr. Petros Levounis
testified that the pop star's addiction was, in his words, "quite extensive." Levounis
also said that a quote, "friendship between an addicted patient and a doctor is problematic"
and told the court that he found Jackson did not take more than prescribed.
As reported by Billboard, Jackson's mother admitted their family had attempted to stage
many interventions over the years. However, he apparently had refused
all of their efforts. When Robin Roberts asked about the interventions in 2009,
Janet Jackson said she felt he was in denial adding,
"It's something you can't do for them. Something they have to do for themselves."
As noted by USA Today, Jackson gave the $1.5 million settlement he won
from PepsiCo following the incident to the hospital where he was treated for his burns.
Although Michael Jackson was acquitted on all charges of child molestation,
repeated accusations of sexual misconduct with young boys tarnished the entertainer's reputation.
To date, five individuals have publicly accused Jackson: Jordie Chandler,
Jason Francia, Gavin Arvizo, Wade Robson, and Jimmy Safechuck. Their stories are very similar.
Former bodyguard Matt Fiddes told Metro that Jackson's efforts to maintain a mysterious
image, quote, "backfired on him" when the molestation accusations became public.
In a statement obtained by The Guardian, Jackson said he was devastated by a 2003
Martin Bashir documentary that strongly implied Jackson was abusing young boys.
In 2019, HBO released "Leaving Neverland", a documentary that follows the stories of Wade
Robson and Jimmy Safechuck. In a statement provided to People, Jackson's estate said,
"[They] both testified under oath that Michael never did anything inappropriate toward them."
However, as 2005 Jackson trial prosecutor Ron Zonen told Vanity Fair,
it's normal for male victims to wait to report abuse, quote, "on their terms."
The Jackson family filed a $100 million lawsuit in an attempt to stop production of
"Leaving Neverland". It didn't work. However, as Variety noted in 2020, the estate won an appeal,
"Technically the decision was that this case can go to private arbitration,
but what that really means is the lawsuit stays alive."
Michael Jackson loved the stage as much as the stage loved him,
and the London concert series would have been a thriller for fans. "This Is
It" vocal director Dorian Holley described Jackson's final rehearsal to Time, saying,
"He was just glowing, and you could see it, that he was finally seeing
it all come together...for the first time. It was a big moment."
According to ABC News, choreographer Travis Payne said Jackson was, quote,
"happier than he'd been in years," while rehearsing for the "This Is It" concert series.
Promoter Randy Phillips also recalled the positive energy behind the scenes, telling ABC News,
"We all had goosebumps. I had never seen such exultation in the cast and crew."
"This Is It" was intended to be both a comeback and one last hurrah for Jackson.
As the Independent reported, when he announced the residency at the 02 Arena in London, Jackson said,
"When I say this is it, it really means this is it.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite superstars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.