Bill Whitfield got candid about what he thought actually killed the “King of Pop” on what would have been his 66th birthday. Whitfield, the last bodyguard of Michael Jackson, shut down the sexual abuse claims against the singer, saying, “He once said he would slit his wrist before hurting a child.” The celebrity security pro also revealed Jackson’s most vulnerable moments to The Sun on Thursday, August 29.
Michael Jackson’s final bodyguard reveals singer’s actual cause of death
The Billie Jean hitmaker died of acute propofol intoxication in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 50, on June 25, 2009. Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide, and his personal doctor, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. However, Whitfield revealed that for years, he had questioned whether he was killed intentionally.
“Do I think someone made a mistake? Yes,” Whitfield said. “I’ve tried to work on the thoughts of could this have been intentional,” he added as he described how Jackson had become “a little more frail than normal” in the days leading up to his death. “Prior to the whole This Is It tour coming into play, a lot had changed. There were more people in his life and it became hectic. He was doing a lot of rehearsing. I could tell it was weighing on him,” he said.
The Beat It singer passed away just three weeks before he was due to kick off the much-anticipated sellout residency. “But the thought that [he died] at the hands of someone intentionally, that doesn’t weigh with me,” Whitfield went on. “I’ve often been asked, what do I think killed him. And I’ve told people, a lot of everything. And includes a lot of us,” he added.
He revealed how Jackson was always surrounded by “so many people that wanted not only to be near him, but there were so many people who wanted something from him.” “And that can be overwhelming. He was definitely stressed out. And stress kills,” said Whitfield, who was appointed as the Bad hitmaker’s bodyguard in 2006.
Bill Whitfield shuts down child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson
The Certified Private Security Professional described the Thriller crooner as a “very good friend” before revealing that his “most prized possession” was his children. When asked about his thoughts on the sexual abuse allegations against Jackson, Whitfield said, “That’s not who he was,” adding, “Nothing like that even remotely came to the surface to make me believe or assume otherwise.”
Whitfield went on to highlight that it wasn’t Jackson’s character. “You had to be around him to know him and I was there,” he said. “So no, that wasn’t him. And so it just still surprises me when I hear things like that. I’m just sorry he wasn’t around long enough to actually tell his side of the story so people could get a better understanding of who he was,” he added.
The Smooth Criminal singer was embattled with allegations of sexually abusing a child in 1993. While Jackson was acquitted in 2005 after the FBI failed to find any evidence suggesting a criminal conduct, he was tried over a series of child abuse allegations over the years. “He would never hurt a child. That wasn’t the man I knew,” Whitfield said, adding, “He once said he would slit his wrist before hurting a child. So I know those accusations were hurtful for him. I can tell that changed him.”
