The world is mourning Steve Jobs today, but there are countless online publications that have done a much better job of it than I could ever hope to, so I’m not touching it (RIP, buddy. Thank you.)
That having been said, another exhaustively covered celebrity death crossed my mind last night when I heard some clips of Michael Jackson speaking to his former doctor, Conrad Murray, who’s currently on trial for manslaughter.
The audio, recorded by Murray six weeks before Jackson’s death, gives the listener a grave look at Jackson’s mental health, which can accurately be labeled ‘rapidly deteriorating.’ Through barely recognizable slurs, Jackson tells Murray, “When people leave this show, I want them to say, ‘I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life. I’ve never seen nothing like this. Go. It’s amazing, He’s the greatest entertainer in the world.'” He sounds as though he’d have trouble taking himself to the bathroom, at that point.
I was upset when Michael died, and as details of his death surfaced it became more and more unbelievable that people allowed the star to slip into insanity. If there were any question that Murray was aware of just how far gone Jackson was, it’s been answered by the fact that he sat there and watched him slur about his tour while hardly conscious and, instead of taking him to a hospital or giving him proper medical care, whipped out his iPhone to record it.
The recordings are up at CBS, if you feel like hating the world.
