Michael Jackson’s final bodyguard has shed light on the internal struggles he says contributed significantly to the tragic death of the King of Pop, who would have turned 66 on Thursday.
Three weeks before the start of his much-anticipated and sold-out tour, Jackson tragically died in June 2009 from acute propofol intoxication.
However, in the days before his death at the age of 50, his then bodyguard Bill Whitfield described Jackson as “fragile” and suggested that excessive stress may have contributed to his early death.
“Before the whole ‘This Is It’ tour happened, a lot of things changed,” he told The US Sun. “There were more people in his life and it got busy.”
“I could see he was a little bit weaker than usual, he’s been training a lot. I could see it was weighing on him,” Whitfield added.
Whitfield said people often ask him what he thinks led to Jackson’s death. His answer is always that a number of factors played a role.
He said he believed that others’ intense desire to be with Jackson and their expectations of him contributed to the difficult situation he faced.
“That could have been very stressful. He was definitely stressed. And stress could have killed him,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield admitted he often pondered the possibility of foul play in the iconic “Thriller” singer’s sudden death in the years following his death in 2009.
“Do I think someone made a mistake? Yes,” he told the outlet. “I tried to think about whether it was intentional. But thinking that [he died] at the hands of a willful person, it has no effect on me.”
Whitfield, a well-known security expert, was hired as Jackson’s personal bodyguard shortly after the singer was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2006.
Upon learning of the case, Whitfield initially doubted the veracity of the allegations before accepting the position.
He recalled his days working for the late singer, “[Jackson] very sad. Things were different, he had just gone through some trials. Like everyone, I had heard all the stories before working for him, so it was normal for me to come into this situation and wonder.”
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Security experts focused on observing how Jackson interacted with his children and others, as well as his surroundings.
“I never wanted to believe these things, but I certainly kept an eye out, especially paying attention, because I didn’t know him until I started working for him,” Whitfield explained.
Based on his observations, Whitfield concluded that the charges against Jackson were baseless.
“That’s not who he is. There’s nothing remotely like that that would make me believe or assume otherwise,” he stressed.
Whitfield also said the accusations were out of character for Jackson. Having spent time with the singer, he said he was shocked every time he came across such rumors.
“I just regret that he wasn’t here long enough to really tell his story so people could get a better understanding of who he was,” he said. “He would never hurt a child. That’s not the man I know. He used to say he would slit his wrists before he hurt a child. So I know those accusations hurt him. I can tell it changed him.”
Reflecting further on Jackson’s death, the singer’s final bodyguard said, “I like [think] He didn’t just die, he left. He left this place, this world, for a better place because the rest he needed would never come in this life.”
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Michael Jackson, King of Pop Tag