MICHAEL JACKSON - TEEN DENIES JACKSON GAVE HIM 'JESUS JUICE'

A Japanese boy alleged to have been given alcohol by MICHAEL JACKSON when he was just 13 years old has spoken out in defence of the troubled star, insisting the claims are false.

College student RICHARD MATSUURA, now 18, was at the centre of a recent VANITY FAIR article, which claimed he was fed "JESUS juice" by Jackson when the 45-year-old BAD singer visited Japan in 1998.

The report states that Jackson had made a big business deal in the Asian nation which was suddenly cancelled because the teen son of one of the star's Japanese partners was given alcohol in a can and came back sick, which deeply upset his father.

But Matsuura defends, "The statements made about his trip to Japan in '98 are completely false. I was taken to the hotel where my father and Michael had a meeting."

"I was there. I know everything that happened."

While Matsuura admits that he did participate in a champagne toast and got sick, it was under his father's supervision and shouldn't be blamed on Jackson. The teen also insists he isn't being paid for coming forward.

But Vanity Fair stands by its article, stating, "Since hearing Richard Matsuura's account of what transpired in 1998, Vanity Fair has contacted its on-the-record source for the story, former Jackson chief financial officer MYUNG-HO LEE. Lee stands by his account of the event, saying: 'I've read the Vanity Fair article. I stand by everything I said in the article.'"