RUPERT EVERETT - EVERETT: 'IT'S GOOD JACKSON DIED WHEN HE DID'

EVERETT: 'IT'S GOOD JACKSON DIED WHEN HE DID'

RUPERT EVERETT is reportedly convinced it's best MICHAEL JACKSON died when he did - because the superstar would have struggled with his planned 50-date residency this summer (09).
The late King of Pop suffered a cardiac arrest last month (Jun09), just weeks before he was due to start This Is It, a series of comeback concerts at London's O2 Arena.
But a British tabloid claims the Hollywood actor Everett believes the dates would have been too gruelling for the Thriller hitmaker - and even if he'd managed to impress fans with his stage show, the press would have finished him off anyway.
The star tells the U.K.'s Daily Mirror, "He was a freak. He looked like a character from Shrek. He was a black to white minstrel. He was crucified by that court case when he was accused of child molestation - that killed him.
"He personified the pain and anxiety of a black man in a slave country. We all watched as he changed form black to white. He was living performance art.
"I think it was fortuitous that he died. He was supposed to be doing 50 concerts in London. It wouldn't have mattered how good or bad he was. He wouldn't have managed to do all of them and the press would have destroyed him."