According to reports, Debbie Rowe’s assertion that she watched as a doctor unethically prescribed the famous patient deadly medications has left Michael Jackson’s family members “bewildered.”
In the new documentary “TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson,” Rowe, who was married to Jackson from 1996 to 1999, discusses how she had worked for renowned Hollywood dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, who prescribed the pop icon Demerol, an addictive and potent opiate.
In the documentary, Rowe, 63, shockingly admits, “I was basically as horrible as [Klein].” It airs tonight on Fox. “I am sorry. I’ll regret it afterwards. And I’m really sorry that I took part in it.
Jackson’s 92-year-old mother Katherine and his 66-year-old brother Randy are reportedly upset by the ex-eyebrow-raising wife’s remarks.
Some of the more senior Jackson family members have been “dumbfounded” by Debbie’s choice to speak to this show about what she knew about Dr. Klein, an insider told the Sun on Tuesday. Debbie hasn’t exactly been this candid with some of the brothers, so hearing her speak on TV is puzzling.
The source, who identifies themselves as a “friend of the Jackson family,” said Katherine is particularly irate.
They said, “She is quite disturbed.” She and her assistants “cannot comprehend why Debbie has decided to break her silence on that portion of her life after all these years.”
The insider continued, “I always had the impression that Debbie was working as Michael’s nurse to help him.
Now, some of them view her differently as a result of her statements.
The estate of Michael Jackson’s representatives have been contacted by The Post for comment on the recent allegations.
Rowe served as Dr. Klein’s assistant for many years. Dr. Klein was a dermatologist known for treating many of Hollywood’s most prominent figures, including Elizabeth Taylor.
At Dr. Klein’s Los Angeles offices, where he was receiving treatment for vitiligo, Rowe first encountered Jackson in the middle of the 1990s.
According to reports, Klein gave several patients potent medications they didn’t require.
In the brand-new documentary, Rowe discusses her interaction with the physician, revealing that “there were times he would write prescriptions for things that had nothing to do with what we were treating them [patients] for.”
Klein, according to her, was “a person that you want to hang out with because you’re going to be able to get something in return,” she adds.
According to the documentary, Jackson and Klein’s connection shifted from being one of doctor and patient to more of a friendship as the dermatologist allegedly kept false records on the singer.
According to TMZ Executive Producer Harvey Levin, who interviewed Klein in November 2009, Jackson would frequently visit Klein’s office to take Demerol “for hours at a time.”
The new documentary’s star, Levin, says of Dr. Klein: “He was pleased to comply and he justified with small surgeries. And he continued to act in this manner.
According to Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for LA County, Jackson allegedly invented 19 fictitious aliases to acquire various medicines, and Klein had kept a special ledger detailing which prescriptions went to each bogus name.
In 2015, Klein passed away naturally at the age of 70.
Klein is only one of many medical professionals that gave Jackson risky prescriptions during his career, though.
The “Bad” singer’s first experience with addiction to opioids came after he sustained second- and third-degree burns on his scalp while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984.
Jackson passed away in June 2009 from a cardiac arrest brought on by the anaesthetic propofol, which his doctor at the time, Conrad Murray, apparently habitually prescribed.
Murray accepted full responsibility for the homicide verdict and the tragedy. After being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he received a four-year prison term, of which he served slightly under two.
Rowe doesn’t mention Murray in the newest film. She also withholds any additional information regarding her romantic involvement with Jackson.
Before having two children together, Prince and Paris, the couple wed in 1996. After their divorce in 1999, Jackson was granted exclusive custody of the two children.
Rowe later claimed that she had sex with the King of Pop only once and that she had been artificially conceived. She currently allegedly is pals with Paris, 24, but it’s unclear how things stand with Prince, 25.
