Michael Jackson’s family ‘deeply upset’ by ex-wife’s drug claims

Michael Jackson’s family members are reportedly “deeply upset” by claims made in a new documentary by the star’s ex-wife.

Michael Jackson’s family has been left “dumbfounded” after the late superstar’s ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, stated in a new documentary that she feels partly to blame for his death.

In a new documentary, Who Killed Michael Jackson?, Debbie Rowe cried as she declared she could have done more when the doctor she worked for got patients like Jackson hooked on painkillers.

According to a report in The Sun, Jackson’s mother, Katherine, and brother, Randy, are “bewildered” by Rowe speaking out now about her time as a nurse with the late dermatologist, Dr Arnold Klein.

Michael Jackson died of a prescription drugs overdose in 2009. Picture: AP

Rowe, who was a surrogate mother to Jackson’s children Prince, 25, and Paris, 24, and said bluntly that she “sucked as a human being” for standing by while Klein dished out prescription drugs to patients.

She made the stunning confession on TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson, which airs in Australia on Channel Seven this Sunday.

In the documentary, a teary Rowe says: “I was basically as bad as [Klein]. I regret that. I will regret it. And I am so sorry that I participated in it.”

Reacting to the comments, one Jackson family friend reportedly told The Sun: “Debbie’s decision to speak to this show about what she knew about Dr Klein, given Michael’s addiction issues, has dumbfounded some of the older Jackson family members and Michael’s long-term aides.

“Debbie has not been this open with some of the brothers for sure, so for her to speak on a TV show is bewildering.

“Everyone is talking about the trailers and media coverage, baffled at why she would speak on these subjects, especially given how sensitive it is in family circles.

“The feeling always was that Debbie was there to help Michael as his nurse.

“Now her comments have made some of them look at her in a different way.

“It is strange to appear on a show called Who Killed Michael Jackson talking about Klein and admitting she should have stopped his way of dealing with clients. It has deeply upset them.

“Katherine is very upset. She and her aides cannot understand why Debbie has decided after all these years to break her silence on that part of her life.”

The source added: “It’s no secret that there are strains between Debbie and some of Michael’s brothers. But this brought many emotions and concerns about Michael’s interactions with Klein back up again.

“While Debbie told producers she would not talk about Michael on the show specifically, it seems extraordinary to mention that Klein’s treatment appeared to blame for some patients’ deaths. It is very shocking and upsetting.”

Jackson died of a cardiac arrest in June 2009 in Los Angeles. He was just 50 years old.

At the time, he had enough of the powerful sedative Propofol in his system to “put down a rhinoceros,” former Los Angeles coroner Ed Winter told the documentary.

Debbie Rowe and daughter, Paris Jackson in 2014. Paris Jackson said she has a “very chill” relationship with her mother. Picture: Instagram

Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for providing the dose of Propofol that killed him.

LAPD Detective Orlando Martinez told the documentary it was “a lot more complicated than just Dr Murray”, and other doctors had contributed to Jackson’s death.

Martinez said: “There are a lot of folks who are to blame that have never had a reckoning for his death.”

Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe during their wedding ceremony in Sydney in 1996. Picture: Supplied.

‘FEEDING JACKSON’S DRUG HABIT’

Rowe refused to talk about Jackson specifically in the documentary, choosing to focus instead on the general damage done to patients by Klein.

But she has spoken for decades about being Jackson’s nurse and an assistant to Klein while he treated the star.

And during a civil trial over Jackson’s death in 2013, she blamed her former boss for feeding Jackson’s drug habit.

The doctor gave Jackson the heavy-duty painkiller, Demerol, over the course of three decades and the star got hooked on the high.

Klein, who was nicknamed the Father of Botox and also known for treating other stars, such as Elizabeth Taylor, died aged 70 in California.

Jackson and Rowe married in 1996 after they first met 15 years before while Michael received treatment from Klein.

Michael Jackson announces a string of London tour dates in 2009, just months before his death. Picture: AFP

Rowe had been consoling Jackson following his split with Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie.

She has spoken candidly in the past about how the whirlwind marriage took place so Jackson could become a father.

Speaking in a 2003 TV special called Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See, Rowe said: “I did it for him to become a father, not for me to become a mother.

“You earn the title parent. I have done absolutely nothing to earn that title. That is because Michael did all the parenting.

“I didn’t do it to be a mother. I didn’t change diapers. I didn’t get up in the middle of the night; even when I was there, Michael did it all.”

Michael Jackson at the height of his fame in 1984. Picture: AP

‘VERY CHILL’

After Jackson’s death, his kids Prince, Paris, and Blanket, lived with their grandmother Katherine and had minimal contact with Rowe.

In 2013, a then 15-year-old Paris reconnected with her mother.

Last year, Paris gave a rare insight into her relationship with Rowe when she told Jada Pinkett Smith’s show Red Table Talk: “It’s cool, getting to know her, seeing how similar we are, getting into what kind of music she really likes.

Michael Jackson kept custody of his children after he divorced Debbie Rowe. Picture: Supplied

“She really likes country and folk, so I sent her some of the stuff I’m working on.

“It’s just cool having her as a friend.

“It’s very chill, which I love, that’s the perfect word to describe it.”

The family source said: “At this moment Paris and Prince are staying silent.

“But the older family members will want to hear how they feel about Debbie’s decision.

“In the past Paris has spoken about how she never really spent time with Debbie until she was 15.

“Prince does not talk openly about Debbie.”

TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson airs on Channel Seven and 7Plus on Sunday, September 11 at 8.40pm

– with The Sun