Loopy insomniac Michael Jackson had an odd habit of leaving late-night voice mails — babbling about everything from his fear of the Mafia to visions of comic-book movies.
In a series of messages left for a pal in 2003, the barely coherent singer can be heard begging for money and planning getaways from perceived enemies, according to The Sun of London.
In the most troubling voice mail, the paranoid king of pop feared organized crime was out to get him.
“I am very concerned. I don’t trust that man,” said the loony pop star, who didn’t name his tormentor in this message.
“We think he’s bad. We think he is Italian Mafia. Please . . . We must be smarter than him. So please, help me with this. I need to get that, those funds so I can do that. I wanna be away. I don’t want to be in Neverland right now.”
In another recording, he also rambles on about needing cash.
“It is Michael calling. It is very important. I want that 150 in that account for me, because . . . I am very concerned about my life,” he said.
“I am hearing a lot of stories that [name withheld] is still trying to sabotage me, and I want to be in a different environment and, um, I’ve found a place that I like and now I want to be away for a while where they can’t find me. So please help me, help, help me . . .”
The tapes were obtained by celebrity journalist Daphne Barak; the paper didn’t name her sources.
A lawyer for Jackson’s former business partner Marc Schaffel insisted the voice mails posted by The Sun were left for his client and Dieter Wiesner, Jacko’s one-time manager, between 2001 and 2003.
In all the messages, Jackson appears to be under the influence of medication.
“He was always under medication at night, trying to get to sleep. That’s why he sounded the way he sounded,” said his former publicist, Stuart Backerman
Despite Jackson’s odd tone, he had some lucid moments.
In one message, he said he wanted to raise money to get in on the action of comic-book flicks.
“I really feel in my heart, we must move as fast as we can,” he said. “Marvel already have sold off their Internet rights and the fact that stock is so low now.”
Jackson added, “They put out ‘Spider-Man.’ Now they got ‘Incredible Hulk’ coming, they got ‘X-Men 2’ coming and they also got ‘Spider-Man 2’ coming. It is going to jump, it’s going to change! I mean, you know . . . and this huge frenzy for superheroes . . . and all the things we can do. I wanna get in before the stocks. We have to jump in now. The timing is perfect.”