BANG Showbiz English
Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe felt she “should have done something” to help him battle his addictions.
The King of Pop died aged 50 in 2009 after suffering a cardiac arrest following an overdose of heavy sedative propofol and Debbie – who was married to him between 1996 and 1999 – now looks back on his drug problems with regret that she didn't do more to help the singer as he struggled.
Speaking in a new documentary for Fox TV, Debbie got emotional as she said: “I should have done something and I didn't. There is a number of people that died from addictions and in some way I was part of it.”
Debbie previously worked as an assistant to Jackson's dermatologist Arnold Klein – who had provided the star with strong pain relief – and admitted she felt sorry for her part in the tragedy.
She said: “I was basically as bad as him (Klein) and I am so sorry I participated in it.”
Klein died in 2015 at the age of 70.
Debbie and Jackson married in 1996 and she was the surrogate mother of his two eldest children, Prince and Paris. They'd previously met 15 years earlier while the singer was being treated for a skin condition.
She rarely talks about her relationship with the star, which was shrouded in secrecy from the very start.
During an appearance in 2003 TV ‘Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See', Debbie spoke about her relationship with the kids – insisting she was determined to help the ‘Thriller' star fulfil his dream of becoming a dad.
She 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.”
