Want to know why Michael Jackson is such a loon? It can all be traced back to the infamous episode where his hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi ad - so says Jackson's long-time friend David Gest:
Michael was in so much pain after [the accident], he became unbalanced. The trauma, and the pills (painkillers), changed him. ... Before then, he had a tight hold of his career. The accident didn't make Michael moody or more distant towards me, but he did become a different person.
Gest also claims that the child abuse accusations leveled against Jackson have wounded him, making him "less trusting." But, assures Gest:
[Michael's] career vision is back and he's planning a spectacular comeback.
Yes David, Michael is planning a spectacular comeback - and has been for about the last fifteen years. That's basically his career now, wandering around trying to make everyone think he's going to pull it together one of these days and return to the top. But that train left the station awhile ago. That bird flew. The cheese fell off that cracker. That cat's already been skinned. What I'm trying to say is, your boy Michael is a crazy fucker, and the only people who care about him anymore are his lunatic-fringe fans in places like London and Tokyo. And please David, that crazy you're trying to sell about Michael going downhill because of the hair-on-fire incident - kindly go peddle that shit some place else. That happened well before Michael's career started tracking downward. Hell, he did his album Bad years after that, and he was still huge then, and only vaguely freaky. No, David, what did Michael in was locking himself inside Neverland like some kind of Peter Pan/Howard Hughes, and so losing touch with reality that he started thinking he really was that mythic pop star he'd been turned into. And then he figured, hell, I'm Michael Jackson, the King of Pop - I can do anything I want including touch little boys on their winkies. But, you can't just do anything you want, David - we're all answerable for our actions, even people who have God-like delusions.
(source)
