Michael Jackson's Ex Partially Blames Herself for His Death

More than a decade after his death, the world is continuing to mourn the loss of Michael Jackson, including his ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who said she feels partially responsible for his death. In a tearful interview for the upcoming documentary TMZ investigation, Who Really Killed Michael Jackson, Rowe admitted that she regrets not doing more to help the King of Pop amid his addiction to painkillers. Jackson passed away on June 25 in 2009, and his death was ruled as a cardiac arrested caused by a fatal combination of drugs.

In the documentary, Rowe said she "should have done something and I didn't," adding, "there is a number of people that died from addictions and in some way I was part of it," the Daily Mail reported. Rowe, a former nursing assistant to Beverley Hills dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, and Jackson first met 15 years before they tied the knot in 1996 while Jackson was receiving treatment for his skin condition. After tying the knot more than a decade later, with Rowe becoming a surrogate mom to Jackson's children Prince and Paris, Jackson passed away in 2009 following a drug-induced cardiac arrest from drugs that were given to him by his doctor, Conrad Murray. Prior to his passing, though, Klein gave Jackson a number of painkillers, fueling his addiction. Rowe, who divorced Jackson in 1999, said she was "basically as bad as him [Klein] and I am so sorry I participated in it."

This is not the first time Rowe has spoken out about her ex-husband's death or her belief that Klein was to blame for his drug addiction. During a civil trial over the musician's death in 2013, she blamed Klein, who treated a number of high-profile stars, including Elizabeth Taylor, for feeding Jackson's drug habit, according to The Sun. Klein passed away in 2015 at the age of 70.

Murray, meanwhile, was ultimately convicted of involuntary manslaughter just two years after Jackson's unexpected passing. He and served two years in prison but was released two years early for good behavior after being sentenced to four years. In TMZ investigation, Who Really Killed Michael Jackson, Murray described his time in prison as "shattering." Murray said, "I will always love Michael," adding that it "was not right" that he took the majority of the blame for Jackson's death. Elsewhere in the interview, Murray said the other doctors who provided Jackson with drugs were also complicit in his death.