Michael Jackson’s former friend has revealed that the King of Pop would have been accused of “multiple” times of sexual abuse in the wake of the #MeToo movement, according to a new report by Radar Online .
The late singer’s friend Matt Fiddes claimed in an interview with the site that hundreds of men and women would have come “out of the woodwork” to accuse him of inappropriate behavior in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal.
Fiddes’ most shocking claim of all was that he stated the “shock” of the allegations would likely have claimed the legendary singer’s life.
“Michael would have been one of the key prime targets had he lived to see the #MeToo movement. Maybe up to hundreds of men and women would have crawled out of the woodwork to accuse him of all sorts of horrible attacks. And I genuinely believe the shock would have killed him,” Fiddes claimed.
“I have believed since the Harvey Weinstein scandal happened that Michael would never have lived to see his 60th birthday. He would have either ended up dead or in jail, or more likely both.”
Jackson was accused of molestation by choreographer Wade Robson in 2013. Prior to his accusation against the singer, Robson testified in Jackson’s defense at the singer’s 2005 criminal trial, when Jackson was accused of four charges of child molesting, one charge of attempted child molesting, one conspiracy charge, and eight possible counts of providing alcohol to minors, according to a report by The Los Angeles Times . Jackson was acquitted in that trial.
Then in 2013 about four years after the singer’s death, Robson sued the Jackson estate for what his attorneys described as molestation that spanned a seven-year period. A judge later ruled that the Jackson estate could not be held responsible for Robson’s exposure to Jackson, according to USA Today .
Fiddes claimed Jackson never recovered from being accused of molestation in the past, and he would have “killed himself” before going through it again, per the Radar report.
“If he had been forced to face trial for more accusations because of the #Me Too movement, I genuinely believe he would have killed himself with an overdose, died from the shock or if he’d gone to jail, found a way to kill himself in there.”
Fiddes also claimed that Jackson was innocent of the multiple charges of sexual abuse and child molestation that marred his life.
In 2016, the singer was posthumously accused in still another complaint by a woman identified as “Jane Doe” who said the singer sexually abused her when she was 12-years-old. Radar reported that “Jane Doe” claimed Jackson paid her $900,000 “hush money” to deter her from speaking with the press at the time of the assault. Her law lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
