{"id":1480,"date":"2025-06-24T10:55:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T09:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/?p=493449"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson’s tragic last words revealed in new memoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new memoir from a close personal friend of Michael Jackson has detailed his last words amid money troubles, addiction, and a longing to get back on the stage.<\/p>\n

Few people have had such a lasting impact on the world of pop music<\/a>, and although his many controversies were almost as famous as the man himself, Michael Jackson’s<\/a> death in 2009 became a sombre\u00a0stamp in pop culture history.<\/p>\n

The king of pop passed away at the age of 50 in June 2009, with an autopsy revealing he overdosed on a combination of propofol and other prescription painkillers.<\/p>\n

Lawyer John Mason revealed Michael Jackson’s tragic last words<\/h2>\n
\"Michael
Credit: Armando Arorizo\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before his death, Michael was prepping for his This Is It concert residency that was initially pegged to run from July 2009 to March 2010. As we know, he passed away a month before the residency was due to start.<\/p>\n

Michael’s former friend and personal lawyer, John Mason, was front and centre during those final few months, witnessing money troubles from bad investments which meant he needed to get back to touring.<\/p>\n

“In 2009, I was living in Reno when I got a call from someone who told me that Michael was in ‘really bad shape.’ He was trying to tour again, but he had collapsed onstage during rehearsals. Yet, he was back at it the next day. Michael was Michael,” Mason wrote in his new memoir, Crazy Lucky: Remarkable Stories from Inside the World of Celebrity Icons, according to Radar Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

AEG, a tour promoter working on This Is It, allegedly hired Conrad Murray to serve as Michael’s doctor, prescribing him nightly infusions of propofol to help him sleep. As he continued to be plagued by sleeping issues, Michael allegedly demanded more and more propofol in a vicious loop that inevitably contributed to his death.<\/p>\n

According to John Mason, Michael Jackson’s last words were: “I can\u2019t function if I don\u2019t sleep. They\u2019ll have to cancel it. And I don\u2019t want them to cancel it.”<\/p>\n

His doctor, Conrad Murray, was later charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, as his Texas medical license was revoked and his California and Nevada licenses were suspended. He was sentenced to the maximum penalty of four years, but he only served two before being released on parole in 2013.<\/p>\n

More recently, Conrad opened a medical institute in 2023 in El Socorro, San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n

For more,\u00a0like The Tab on Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Featured image credit: Greg Allen\/Retna Ltd\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former friend of Michael’s has detailed their final interaction <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[46,4,45],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-celebrity","tag-film","tag-music"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Film Shrine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-24T09:55:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kieran Galpin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kieran Galpin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/\",\"name\":\"Michael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-24T09:55:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/a5150d4b47bedcae3da00d4064453327\"},\"description\":\"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson’s tragic last words revealed in new memoir\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/\",\"name\":\"Film Shrine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/a5150d4b47bedcae3da00d4064453327\",\"name\":\"Kieran Galpin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5e45a0604170102ebfe8a6e167ea18d5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-Screenshot-2026-04-22-at-12.49.10-pm-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-Screenshot-2026-04-22-at-12.49.10-pm-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Kieran Galpin\"},\"description\":\"Kieran is a Staff Writer for The Tab. He specialises in covering relationship and dating stories, celebrity gossip, and a wide range of shows like The Pitt and The Boys. He's also passionate about trends that are taking over the world of TikTok and other social media.\",\"jobTitle\":\"Writer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/author\/kieran-galpindigitalbox-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir","description":"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir","og_description":"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir","og_url":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","og_site_name":"Film Shrine","article_published_time":"2025-06-24T09:55:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kieran Galpin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kieran Galpin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","url":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","name":"Michael Jackson's tragic last words revealed in new memoir","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png","datePublished":"2025-06-24T09:55:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/a5150d4b47bedcae3da00d4064453327"},"description":"John Mason, the former lawyer for Hollywood celebs, has revealed Michael Jackson's last words in his new memoir","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson’s tragic last words revealed in new memoir"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/","name":"Film Shrine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/a5150d4b47bedcae3da00d4064453327","name":"Kieran Galpin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5e45a0604170102ebfe8a6e167ea18d5","url":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-Screenshot-2026-04-22-at-12.49.10-pm-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-Screenshot-2026-04-22-at-12.49.10-pm-96x96.png","caption":"Kieran Galpin"},"description":"Kieran is a Staff Writer for The Tab. He specialises in covering relationship and dating stories, celebrity gossip, and a wide range of shows like The Pitt and The Boys. He's also passionate about trends that are taking over the world of TikTok and other social media.","jobTitle":"Writer","url":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/author\/kieran-galpindigitalbox-com\/"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/filmshrine.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"\u2018He was in really bad shape\u2019: Michael Jackson’s tragic last words revealed in new memoir","url":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2025\/06\/24\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png"},"articleSection":"Entertainment","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kieran Galpin"}],"creator":["Kieran Galpin"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Film Shrine","logo":"https:\/\/cdn.filmshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-The-Tab_Film-Shrine_Favicon.png"},"keywords":["celebrity","film","music"],"dateCreated":"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z","datePublished":"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z","dateModified":"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"\\u2018He was in really bad shape\\u2019: Michael Jackson’s tragic last words revealed in new memoir\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/thetab.com\\\/filmshrine\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/24\\\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/thetab.com\\\/filmshrine\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/24\\\/he-was-in-really-bad-shape-michael-jacksons-tragic-last-words-revealed-in-new-memoir\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.filmshrine.com\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.filmshrine.com\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Add-a-heading-6-2.png\"},\"articleSection\":\"Entertainment\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Kieran Galpin\"}],\"creator\":[\"Kieran Galpin\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Film Shrine\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.filmshrine.com\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/cropped-The-Tab_Film-Shrine_Favicon.png\"},\"keywords\":[\"celebrity\",\"film\",\"music\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-24T09:55:52Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/filmshrine.com\/p.js"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1480"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}