14 DAY TRIAL // As the world continues to mourn the passing of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, British actor Rupert Everett, star of “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “The Next Best Thing” and the “Shrek” films, is the only one not to feel any regret. In an explosive and already subject-to-much-debate, new interview with The Mirror, the actor speaks his mind on topics such as Michael Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Katie Price.
It is, however, the Jackson topic that is already getting Everett a lot of bad media and negative reactions from Michael’s fans. Quite understandably so, since the actor spares no expense in speaking his mind on Jackson, whom he labels anything from freak to weirdo, and of whom he concludes by saying he is better off dead anyway. Clearly, Everett is not familiar with the saying “Do not speak ill of the dead,” several, more lenient fans are pointing out on dedicated forums.
“He was a freak. He looked like a character from Shrek. He was a black to white minstrel. He personified the pain and anxiety of a black man in a slave country. We all watched as he changed from 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.” Everett tells the aforementioned publication.
Moreover, the actor believes what killed Jackson was actually the string of accusations brought against him by former children friends and their parents, accusations that were also responsible for the downfall in his career. The media does not forget and neither does the public, Everett says, which is why they can’t separate the performer from the person behind him. This was also Michael Jackson’s case, so maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from this.
“You cannot divide the music from the person. I think his life – and death – is a great lesson. I think we are going to see the end of celebrity as we know it. Showbusiness is not an honest profession.” the actor further explains. Of course, Everett’s fans know that what might sound strange to someone who is not acquainted with him is actually everyday business with Everett, which is to say that he has a reputation for talking smack about fellow celebrities, be them dead or alive. With Michael Jackson, though, he may have crossed the line a bit, some believe.