Ex-bodyguard says Michael Jackson was exploited

Michael Jackson's tragic downfall was fuelled not just by fame, but by misplaced trust, according to his former bodyguard, who says the King of Pop repeatedly allowed the wrong people into his inner circle -- with devastating consequences.

Matt Fiddes, who protected Jackson during his visits to the UK, claims the global superstar was constantly surrounded by opportunists who whispered in his ear, slowly pushing out those who genuinely cared for him.

Jackson, who died at age 50 in June 2009, often struggled to separate loyalty from manipulation as fame tightened its grip.

Speaking on the Stripping Off with Matt Haycox podcast, Fiddes said: "He was the creator of his own destiny but he was very bad at trusting the wrong people.

"In the 10 years I knew him, he must have gone through about 12 different managers, some of them very good and some very bad.

"People would get in his ear, the latest friend, the latest family member. People would get in his ear and people would get pushed out, even myself. I found myself pushed out at some points."

Fiddes said Jackson's vulnerability became most dangerous when doctors entered the picture -- many of whom he believes were eager to exploit the singer's superstardom. The Billie Jean hitmaker died after an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol and other prescription drugs administered by Conrad Murray, who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011.

The martial arts expert, who became a close confidant of Jackson, said the singer's reliance on painkillers began years earlier, after suffering second-degree burns to his scalp while filming a commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in January 1984.

According to Fiddes, doctors played a calculated role in tightening their grip. "The biggest issue he had was the doctors. There was always a doctor. I remember one time I went into a bathroom of a hotel, downstairs Michael's hotel, and I could overhear a doctor talking to a Michael Jackson fan, and the doctor was basically doing a PS10,000 deal to introduce the fan to Michael in the hotel suite. I couldn't believe my ears.

"If you go back to Michael with that, you better hope he believes you, because otherwise he'll shut you out and he'll be stuck with some doctor. This is the issue he had.

"The doctors had a way of hooking Michael in with the medication, making him depend on it."

Despite his close access to one of the most famous men on earth, Fiddes insists he never took a cent for his services. "I wasn't employed, I wasn't paid. He offered me his money, but I didn't want his money as I had my own businesses to run.

"He would just call me and say, 'I'm at the airport, I'm about to fly to England. Terminal 5 Heathrow. Pick me up and come and hang out with me.'"