Producer and TV star David Gest, the man who befriended Michael Jackson 40 years ago, when he was 16 and Michael 11 and who later married Liza Minelli in 2002 with Michael as his best man broke his silence and spoke of the shadowy characters in Jackson’s life, the ones that ultimately drove him to his death.
In his interview, David was particularly angry about the influence of mysterious Lebanese doctor Tohme R Tohme, who met Jacko when the singer was staying in Bahrain in 2005.
He said: “We all have weaknesses and Michael’s was that he trusted the wrong people most of the time. He thought all people were good, which they are not.”
He also revealed that Dr Tohme had masterminded Michael’s mammoth run of 50 comeback concerts at London’s O2 Arena, which were to have started next month, without telling the singer the full facts.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, David said: “Michael told me he was excited about getting back on stage. I told him I was proud of him. But I really believe in my heart of hearts that the pressure of those concerts killed Michael.
“He thought there were going to be ten dates as announced. But then all of a sudden Tohme, along with Randy Phillips, president of organisers AEG, had arranged 20, 30 then 50 dates.
“Michael was being told, ‘You are going to set the world record for concerts at the O2, you are going to beat Prince’s record.’
“They knew how to feed into his ego. But when Michael realised his schedule, he began to panic. It was one show after another, with hardly any days off. He should never have been tied to so many, especially a guy who dances through more than half of his set.”
He said: “They should have realised doing a concert one day on, one day off, would be tough for any performer, let alone someone who hadn’t been on stage for nine years. It was ridiculous.
“Michael was working his ass off for eight hours a day to prepare, the schedule didn’t allow him proper time to rest.”
Referring to the singer’s 2005 acquittal following a five-month trial over child sexual abuse charges, David added: “And they didn’t factor in that he was raising three kids and getting his life back together after that terrible trial. Michael wanted to put on the most amazing show ever. I know for a fact he was rehearsing until 2am the morning before he died.
“I produced the last concert Michael did in 2001. He was brilliant but it was only two shows and he had many months to prepare and a sensible schedule when we rehearsed in the day so he could get a good night’s sleep.
“It is ridiculous to have an artist to rehearse until the wee hours of the morning because when he got home his adrenaline was so up, the only thing he could do was revert to pills or shots or alcohol to relieve the tension.”
“Michael was getting thinner and thinner. He lost close to 15lb in the last six weeks – he wasn’t eating enough. Supposedly the chef who had worked for him was let go two weeks ago, with no one there to cater to Michael’s dietary needs.”
David also told how money worries weighed heavily on Michael’s mind in the last years of his life.
David believes Jackson slowly began to lose his grip on his affairs following the freak accident in 1984 in which his hair was set ablaze during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.
He said: “He was in terrible pain and all he cared about was feeling better. He started taking prescription pills to numb the pain and he also started drinking. It was then that his judgment started to become clouded.”
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Thanks for putting the blame where it belongs