A private doctor who went on tour with Michael Jackson and introduced him to the drug that went on to kill him, has defended the star's bizarre behaviour.
Dr Neil Ratner, who dubbed himself the 'Rock Doc' after his switch from a career in music to medicine, has claimed the way Jacko acted was "a celebrity thing" and nothing more.
Ratner toured with Jackson for eight years as his private physician in the nineties, and has spoken out about the sexual abuse allegations against him almost ten years after the singer's death.
He said he was Jacko's confidant and that the singer would often speak of his own childhood traumas and was obsessed with "childhood innocence".
Speaking to the Sun he said: "The oddest part of Michael [was] his inability to grow up. His inability of wanting to be an adult. That was his hangup.
"Did he like children more than adults? Probably."
Ratner believes that Jacko's own lack of childhood led to psychological problems.
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The now-retired anaesthesiologist was a regular guest at the Neverland ranch, but says he didn't witness any abuse.
It comes after the controversial documentary film Leaving Neverland , where James Safechuck and Wade Robson alleged they were both Full list of Michael Jackson accusations - from oral sex games to hidden 'abuse' rooms .
Ratner, who claims to have spent a lot of time in Michael's bedroom, believes he would have seen the abuse if it had occurred.
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But doesn't discount that something could have happened.
"I saw things that make it hard for me to believe he was anything other than what I knew him as.
"But I’m not discounting anything because I've seen so many crazy things in life."
His comments come months after the release of headline-grabbing documentary Leaving Neverland, in which James Safechuck and Wade Robson accused the star of horrific sexual abuse.
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In the film, Robson and Safechuck alleged Jackson had abused them from the ages of 10 and seven respectively, after they were befriended by the King of Pop.
The Jackson family have hit back at the allegations and compared the hounding of Michael to a "public lynching", especially as the late singer is unable to defend himself in person.
The superstar, who was previously tried on child molestation charges and acquitted on every count, died in 2009 at the aged of 50.
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