Michael Jackson's Biopic Is Breaking Box Office Records — and Reigniting Every Question About How He Died

The Michael Jackson biopic has attracted significant audiences since its release. However, it has also sparked a curiosity to revisit the tragic demise of the “King of Pop.”

According to reports, some critics have argued the film does not adequately address the controversies that defined Jackson's later years. Jaafar Jackson, the late singer's nephew and the son of Jermaine Jackson, portrays his uncle in the film and contributed vocals to the soundtrack.

However, the biopic has brought renewed attention to the events leading to Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. Reportedly, the “Billie Jean” singer’s autopsy report said that the coroner determined that he passed away due to “acute propofol intoxication."

Jackson's place of death was listed as Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The primary suspect who was incriminated behind his death was his doctor at that time, Conrad Murray.

The jury returned a guilty verdict against Murray on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The prosecutors alleged that Conrad Murray “was an incompetent physician who used an anesthetic called Propofol without the proper safeguards.”

But the defense argued that the “Thriller” hitmaker passed away due to an alleged drug overdose. Reportedly, the doctor gave Michael Jackson the drug to help him sleep and combat insomnia calling it, “a fast-acting hospital sedative, administered intravenously and used before anesthetics.” The drug was said to be originally widely used in the late 1980s.

However, reports suggest that Jackson also took other drugs like “Valium, lorazepam, and midazolam." Two days after the demise of the singer-dancer, Murray was interviewed by two detectives on June 27, 2009 from the Los Angeles Police Department.

In the interview that reportedly happened at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, the doctor recalled long hours of him trying to get Jackson to sleep with the help of drugs other than propofol.

According to a 2009 report of the LA Times, “around 10:40 a.m., Murray gave Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol that had been diluted with lidocaine. Jackson was finally able to get to sleep.”

The report added, “Unfortunately, he never woke up. Murray said that he left the room for roughly two minutes to use the restroom, and returned to discover that Jackson had stopped breathing."

Despite a four-year sentence, Murray was released in 2013 after serving two years. Murray maintained his innocence, telling CNN in a 2013 interview that he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

While the biopic of the Beat It hitmaker is creating a strong impact within the masses, some members of the Jackson family have expressed reservations about the film.

Paris Jackson reportedly said the movie "didn't sit right" with her after reading the script, leading her to distance herself from the production. According to reports, Paris said, “It didn't sit right with me, and when they didn’t address it, I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and god speed."