Elton John reveals why Michael Jackson was a 'disturbing' person to be around: "He couldn’t..."
Elton John had known Michael Jackson since he became a musical sensation overnight but it was not until 1988 that they began a profound friendship by collaborating on the song 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me'. However, in 2019 John's autobiography 'Me' shockingly claimed that the King of Pop was increasingly erratic during the days leading up to his death in 2009 and was "a disturbing person to be around.” Terming Jackson "genuinely mentally ill" the 'Candle in the Wind' hitmaker noted in his book that "at some point in the intervening years, he started sequestering himself away from the world and away from reality, the way Elvis Presley did.”
The 'Rocket Man' singer revealed in his memoir that he used to feel sorry for Jackson because of the depressing situation he had fallen into after developing a prescription drug addiction. “God knows what was going on in his head, and God knows what prescription drugs he was being pumped full of, but every time I saw him in his later years I came away thinking the poor guy had totally lost his marbles," he wrote, as per Express. The 'Sacrifice' singer claimed that since Jackson was surrounded by people who cajoled him into believing he was okay, he had fallen off the deep end during his final years and there was no way anyone could save him.
Additionally, John highlighted that Jackson was more comfortable around little children than with adults. He narrated that the 'Thriller' singer ended up being one of the impromptu guests at his private dinner in the 1990s. The intimate gathering was thrown to celebrate John's budding romance with David Furnish, however, Jackson, who was accompanied by a psychiatrist allegedly displayed unusual behavior at the soiree. He looked pale throughout the feast, avoided eating anything from the well-laden banquet, and at one point left his seat and vanished from the gathering. John described being panicked and going on a hunt looking for the 'Bille Jean' singer.
The nightmarish search ended when they found him with an 11-year-old boy, “We finally found him, two hours later, in a cottage in the grounds of Woodside where my housekeeper lived: she was sitting there, watching Michael Jackson quietly playing video games with her 11-year-old son," he recalled, as per The Independent. "For whatever reason, he couldn’t seem to cope with adult company at all," John added. Meanwhile, the same year HBO released a scathing visual sketch of Jackson with their two-part documentary - 'Leaving Neverland'. The film explored the 'Beat It' singer's legacy and his allegations of child abuse.
However, Jackson's estate released a 30-minute investigative documentary film directed by Eli Pedraza on YouTube - 'Neverland Firsthand: Investigating the Michael Jackson Documentary' refuting the allegations that marred the pop singer's reputation during the end days of his life. The informative film featured testimonies from Brad Sundberg, Jackson's technical director, Taj, and Brandi Jackson, the 'Heal the World' singer's nephew and niece respectively. “Not in a million years did I ever see a child around Michael Jackson that looked like they had been distressed, hurt, abused,” Sundberg confessed, as per The Mirror. Additionally, Brandi claimed that Wade Robson was after monetary gains and hence had put her uncle on trial.