As the public comes to terms with the loss of a much-loved, admired and influential performer, reports are flooding in from those who knew him concerning the circumstances leading up to his death. While some blame the now infamous Martin Bashir documentary Living With Michael Jackson, others say he never recovered from his child molestation court case – whilst others maintain it was his addiction to prescription drugs that finished him off.

With the autopsy results not due out for weeks, Ahlan! reveals what those closest to the star believe contributed to his demise...

Documentary to blame
Jackson’s ex-manager, Dieter Wiesner is adamant that the documentary by British TV presenter Martin Bashir, Living With Michael Jackson, was the beginning of the end for the hitmaker.

“It broke him. It killed him. He took a long time to die, but it started that night,” Dieter, who managed Michael between 1996-2003, told The Sun. “Previously the drugs were a crutch, but after that they became a necessity. They got him through his days and insomnia-riddled nights.”

Stress over his comeback
With debate raging over whether or not Michael knew he’d signed up to do 50 concerts at London’s O2 Arena – with some claiming he thought he was only performing 10 – concert promoter AEG boss, Randy Phillips says Jackson was so intensely focused on his shows, that he would often forget to eat.

“He used to forget to eat because he was so focused. [Show choreographer] Kenny Ortega and I used to cut up his food and physically feed him,” Phillips told the Daily Mirror. But adds, “Frail, he certainly wasn’t. He was always very thin, but not to the point where he couldn’t perform.”

Never got over child abuse case
Michael Jackson’s family lawyer claims the singer was taking up to 40 Vicodin – the powerful painkiller Eminem was addicted to – every day during his 2005 child abuse trial – which stretched on for five months.

“During Michael’s court trial he was taking 40 Vicodin a day – and this may have even increased. It’s an insane amount of drugs to be given – and to be taken,” revealed Brian Oxman. Who also insisted, “I did warn him about the drugs. I am prepared to name names of doctors who prescribed them.”

‘It was fate’ – Lisa Marie Presley
Michael’s wife of two years, Lisa Marie Presley, last week blogged that Michael ‘foresaw’ his own death.

Writing on her MySpace, Lisa Marie, who was married to Jackson from 1994-1996, said, “He knew. At [one] point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, ‘I am afraid that I am going to end up like [Elvis], the way he did.’” She added, “He knew what he knew and that was kind of that.”