Jacksons V AEG trial: Makeup artist recalls singer looked 'emaciated' and acted 'paranoid' in days before his death

by WeAreTheWorld. Sun May 12, 2013 7:08 pm

Michael Jackson wrongful death trial: Makeup artist recalls singer looked 'emaciated' and acted 'paranoid' in days before his death

By Nancy Dillon
5/11/2013

An “emaciated” Michael Jackson had dry skin and dry eyes — and he was “paranoid” and repeating himself in the days before his overdose death, his longtime makeup artist told jurors Thursday.

Makeup pro Karen Faye tearfully testified for Katherine Jackson in the matriarch’s megabucks negligence lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live in Los Angeles — recounting her dire concerns about the King of Pop as he rehearsed for his ill-fated “This Is It” tour.

She said Michael was cold as an “ice cube” on June 19, 2005, after a costume fitting.

"He couldn't get warm. I had a space heater, (and) I put it next to him and put him on the sofa and wrapped him in blankets and held him very close to me,” Faye said.

She said she watched tour director Kenny Ortega try to feed the ultra-skinny singer some chicken and pleaded with him to call a doctor.

The next day, Faye sent a frantic email to Jackson’s manager, Frank DiLeo. A fan who had a recent meeting with Jackson had contacted her with concerns, and she told DiLeo she agreed with the fan.

Jurors and Jackson's 82-year-old mom watched as the fan’s email was projected on a courtroom screen.

“(Michael) took his jacket off, and I saw something horrible. A skeleton. I watched his back. It was only bones. I am still in shock,” the fan said of her June 2009 meeting with the star, during which he tried on a jacket.

“It is humanly impossible for a human being to be a skeleton and dance for two hours straight without any danger,” the fan wrote.

Faye said she forwarded the email to DiLeo and learned at Jackson’s funeral that AEG Live bigwig Randy Phillips saw it, too.

Katherine Jackson and the singer’s three kids are suing AEG for millions, claiming the concert promoter negligently hired Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist now serving four years for Jackson’s overdose death on June 25, 2009.

AEG has denied any wrongdoing, saying it was Jackson’s “personal” choices that led to his premature death.

Faye, who worked with Jackson for almost three decades, said he changed into someone she didn’t recognize when he started rehearsing for his 50-date “This Is It” concert series.

“He would say things over and over again, repeating the same thing,” she testified. “He wanted to see me all the time. He would say, ‘Make sure I'm able to see you on the stage at all times.’ I’d go, ‘Okay,’ and he’d say it again.”

Her emotional testimony also touched on the superstar’s long struggle with substance abuse.

She said he was so wasted on pain medication during his “Dangerous” tour in the early 1990s that he was stumbling around a venue in Singapore and sparked a violent clash between her and a doctor.

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