The King of Pop may have had the world in the palm of his hand, but he had his own troubles and his father was the culprit, says the pop stars former doctor.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 1, 2021. It has since been updated.
Trigger Warning: Contains details of child abuse that may be disturbing to some.
The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has provided the world with some of the greatest musical hits like Billie Jean, Beat It and They Don't Care About Us, to name a few. But as explosive as the late artist's talents have been, so have his controversies. While he was charged with child molestation allegations, he too has accounts of his own father allegedly abusing him as a child.
According to Independent UK, Dr. Conrad Murray, the infamous doctor convicted of the icon's involuntary manslaughter by delivering a fatal dose of the painkiller propofol, revealed surprising details about Joe Jackson, the family patriarch.
In a video procured by The Blast, he labeled Joe Jackson “one of the worst fathers to his children in history."
The former cardiologist explains that when Michael was his patient, he told the doctor about the “many sufferings” he experienced “at the hands of his father” as a child. “The fact that he was chemically castrated to maintain his high-pitched voice is beyond words,” Murray said, reiterating a claim he made in his 2016 book, This Is It! The Secret Lives of Dr. Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson.
In the book, he had accused Joe of forcing Michael to get hormonal therapy, which included injections, at age 12 as a way to cure his acne and inhibit his natural puberty voice change.
“I hope Joe Jackson finds redemption in hell,” Murray said in The Blast’s video, released days after Jackson’s father died of pancreatic cancer on June 27, 2018.
This isn't the first time that stories about Joe Jackson were revealed. According to Oprah.com, during Michael's 1993 interview with TV personality Oprah Winfrey, when asked why Joe would beat him, he said, "I don't know if I was his golden child or whatever it was. Some may call it a strict disciplinarian or whatever, but he was very strict. He was very hard. Just a look would scare you. There's been times when he'd come to see me, and I would get sick. I'd start to regurgitate."
Winfrey, recalling the moment, spoke of her surprise that he was so candid about the abuse. "Even in saying it, [Michael tried] to temper it by saying, 'Please, don't be mad at me, Joseph.' So obviously you know that he still carried that fear and pain," she said. "Look in his eyes when he starts to talk about his father. His eyes shift."
Then in 2003, the musical star revealed more details about his troubled childhood in his documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, presented by Martin Bashir. “It was more than just a belt - cords, whatever was around,” the singer recalled. He said Joe would "throw you up against the wall as hard as you could. He would lose his temper.… I was so fast, he couldn’t catch me half the time. But when he would catch me? It was bad. It was really bad.”
But while he had issues with his father, his own kids had nothing but love and praise for the father that was "strict" but treated them to sweets as they told Oprah Winfrey, reported ABC News. "I kind of felt like no one understood what a good father he was. He was the best cook ever," Paris told her. "He was just a normal dad. He made the best French toast in the world," she added. "He just made the best breakfasts in the world."
References:
https://theblast.com/conrad-murray-michael-jackson-joe-jackson/
https://www.oprah.com/entertainment/oprah-reflects-on-her-interview-with-michael-jackson/all
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Carlo Allegri
