Jackson a freak and better off dead, says Everett

Actor Rupert Everett believes Michael Jackson is better off dead. Photo / AP

Actor Rupert Everett believes Michael Jackson is better off dead.

The Shrek star believes it's better the pop legend passed away last month at the age of 50 as he would never have been able to cope with the pressures of his planned comeback shows at London's O2 arena.

"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 them all and the press would have destroyed him," he said.

Rupert admits he wasn't a huge fan of the singer, particularly because of the changes in his appearance - which Michael blamed on vitiligo, a condition that makes your skin change colour.

"He was a freak. He looked like a character from Shrek. He was a black to white minstrel. He was crucified by that court case when he was accused of child molestation - that killed him.

"He personified the pain anxiety of a black man in a slave country. We all watched as he changed from black to white. He was living performance art."

In 2005, Michael was cleared on 10 accounts of child molestation, but sources close to him say he never fully recovered from the ordeal.

- BANG! SHOWBIZ