It’s been three years since the pop legend’s death but a series of emails has been released this week that reveal how the promoters of Michael Jackson’s planned London comeback were fearful of his stability.
The promoters of Jackson’s tour described in the messages how they feared for the megastar’s health.
The Los Angeles Times obtained 250 pages of messages between executives of the entertainment group that financed the star’s ill-fated This Is It concert series in 2009.
The emails revealed how the entertainment group bosses were worried that Jackson’s planned 50-show stand would be an expensive bust.
In one message, an executive wrote to his boss saying Jackson was “an emotionally paralysed mess.”
The executive, Mr Phillips, wrote the email from Jackson’s London suite just hours before a press conference was planned to announce the comeback concerts.
“MJ is locked in his room drunk and despondent,” Mr Phillips said in an email to the Anschutz Entertainment Group president Tim Leiweke. “I (am) trying to sober him up.”
The emails show how Mr Phillips and Michael Jackson’s manager ended up having to dress the pop star. “He is scared to death,” Mr Phillips wrote to Mr Leiweke.
Michael Jackson arrived 90 minutes late for the press conference and made some short remarks that some of the 350 reporters present described as odd and disjointed.
A different man; the star performing in 1996.
Now, as the emails were released to the newspaper, the entertainment group’s lawyer suggested Mr Phillips exaggerated in his emails and said Jackson’s behaviour was just a “case of nerves”.
He also said the messages reviewed and reported on by the newspaper were incomplete and leaked to portray the company in a negative light. However, he declined to provide more emails that could give a fuller picture.
Other emails showed insurance specialists Lloyd’s of London unsuccessfully pushing for access to five years of Jackson’s medical records in order to expand insurance coverage for the ill-fated concerts.
