Michael Jackson’s Friend Mark Lester ‘Sick’ After Watching ‘Leaving Neverland’ Documentary

Michael Jackson’s friend, Mark Lester, has defended him on British morning talk show, Lorraine.

Prior to the documentary airing in the U.K. yesterday, Lester said he was left feeling “sick” at Leaving Neverland.

“It seems to repeat itself quite a lot and is quite boring in many places. It made me feel quite sick. This is not the Michael Jackson that I knew for over 30 years. This is not the man that my children knew,” Lester said, as quoted by The Evening Standard.

Mark expressed he feels sad that this has all come to light and doesn’t understand what this documentary is trying to achieve.

Lester is a British actor who rose to fame in the late 1960s as a child star. His film debut was in The Counterfeit Constable in 1964. He played the role of Oliver Twist in the musical drama, Oliver! He has since starred in numerous films and TV shows.

BBC reported earlier this year that he also was one of Jackson’s sperm donors and that he believed that Paris Jackson was his daughter. According to Metro, he thought he was one of 20 donors for the entertainer.

“I believe Paris could be my daughter,” he said, due to his belief that she looks like his daughter, Harriet.

“Michael Jackson asked me in a private conversation if I would be willing to donate sperm on his behalf,” he recalled.

“I was phoned up by a London clinic and I was asked what would be a convenient time for me to attend. I made an appointment to go along.”

In June 2009, Michael passed away at the age of 50. Jackson has three children — Paris, Blanket, and Michael Jr. Lester revealed that he didn’t have any contact with Jackson’s children after his death.

Michael’s team tried to prevent the documentary from airing and threatened the network with a $100 million lawsuit. However, it still aired on HBO. The documentary features interviews with Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who have accused Jackson of acting inappropriately toward them when they were children, and several of their family members.

Michael was referred to as the “King Of Pop” throughout his career. He was the eighth child of the Jackson family, and made his professional debut in 1964 — along with his elder brothers — as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his solo career in 1971, and released his share of iconic albums, including Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. His last studio album released was Invincible, which went on to sell over 6 million copies worldwide.

Since his passing, two posthumous records were released — Michael and Xscape.