Behind the flashing cameras and historic stage triumphs, Michael Jackson was trapped in a quiet, devastating war with dependency.
While the public saw an unmatched musical genius, his close friend and spiritual advisor, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, witnessed a far darker reality behind the closed doors of the recording studio.
During their private sessions, Shmuley watched in horror as a mysterious handler would simply show up at the studio carrying a briefcase packed to the brim with powerful pharmaceuticals, including massive amounts of pills and drugs like Demerol.
People Would Show Up With Briefcases Of Drugs
The dependency was so severe that they would frequently zip around the corner to a local pharmacy just to load up on even more prescription drugs.
INSIDE THE STUDIO, THE TRAGIC TOLL OF THE DRUGS BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO HIDE. Michael was completely out of it and woozy most of the time, often unable to even wake up until three o’clock in the afternoon.
Production teams would sit around waiting for hours and hours, only for a heavily drugged-out Michael to finally get up and quietly admit, “I don’t feel like it.”
He wasn’t even mentally there half the time, surrounded entirely by “yes people” who would immediately whisk anyone who dared to speak up straight into the corner.
Michael Describes Why He Used So Many Pain Drugs
Desperate to save his friend from a fatal downward spiral, Shmuley confronted him directly inside the house, warning him that the substances would eventually kill him.
But Michael, trapped in deep denial, would call him up from Neverland and plead, “Schmooly, I love you. I miss you… Schmooly, it’s medical.”
Despite Shmuley begging him to realize he was too smart to talk himself into it, the tragic enablers won.
On this anniversary of his death, we remember not just the flawless King of Pop, but the vulnerable human soul who desperately needed someone to break the silence before it was too late.