Michael Jackson‘s family has been rocked by a series of explosive allegations from the star’s former nanny Grace Rwaramba — who has opened up about his long battle with prescription drugs.
Rwaramba spent 17 years working for Jackson, starting as his assistant and eventually looking after his three children.
She was his constant companion in recent years and was rumored to be in the running to take custody of Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), 7.
Rwaramba admits she had a volatile relationship with the “Thriller” hitmaker and was fired by Jackson just weeks before his tragic death on Thursday — just one of many times he had terminated her employment.
She has confirmed that the Jackson family had long-running fears for the star’s health, insisting that the singer’s regular ingestion of prescription pills often left him barely able to function.
Rwaramba also claims she teamed up with Jackson’s superstar sister Janet and his mother Katherine to stage an “intervention” in a bid to get the music legend the help he needed.
She says, “He always ate too little and mixed too much (medicine). I had to pump his stomach many times… He always mixed so much of it. There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him.
“We tried to do an intervention. It was me, Janet, his mother. I coordinated it.”
But Jackson found out about the plan and fired Rwaramba.
She adds, “He was so angry with me. He screamed at me, ‘You betrayed my trust. You called them behind my back.’ I told him, ‘Michael I didn’t betray your trust. I try to help you.’ But he didn’t want to listen. That was one of the times he let me go.”
Rwaramba admits that Jackson completely cut her out of his life after her recent dismissal — but found it impossible to cope without her.
She says, “(I got) phone calls that (the kids) are being neglected. Nobody is cleaning the rooms, because he didn’t pay the housekeeper. I got a phone call that Michael is in such a bad shape. He is not clean. He has not shaved… His nails… He is not eating well. I used to do all this for him. He hasn’t been eating and the kids have been so scared for him.”
Jackson’s family is currently awaiting answers about the star’s passing from Los Angeles’ medical examiner’s office — which is expected to take four to six weeks to conclude toxicology testing and determine the final cause of death.
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