Michael Jackson's former bodyguard has spoken about the allegations that the late king of pop reportedly had a secret room in his home. Speaking on the podcast The Scott McGlynn show, Matt Fiddes, who worked for the singer before his tragic death in 2009, said the alleged room, which Jackson’s accusers claim was used to abuse children, was in fact a place where he coped with panic attacks.
"They [critics] try and tell you that he built a secret child room but that was there when he bought the house, it was actually a panic room.The guy was a multi-billionaire and it was completely normal to have a panic room… you would push a door and he had stuff in there to keep him entertained for a few days until a problem was solved. Many times people used to parachute in and alarms would go off and Neverland staff used to tell him to go into the room. So it was not a secret room, it is the most ridiculous stuff that people make up", Fiddes said.
Fiddes, who is now working as an entrepreneur and personal trainer, claimed that more albums would be released following the posthumous release of Invincible in 2011 and hinted that film studios are planning to make a movie about the singer similar to the 2018 biopic about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
The former bodyguard also touched on sex abuse allegations made against Jackson in the 2019 documentary produced by HBO, which Fiddes described as "crazy". Fiddes said the main problem with the "Leaving Neverland" documentary is it doesn’t mention that the two men accusing the singer of sexual abuse filed multimillion lawsuits against Jackson.
"The timing was very obvious. The thing that they missed out of the documentary is that they are suing MJ for hundreds of millions of dollars. Had they put that in the documentary, I think people would have turned the channel over or taken a different view on it. It is quite an important part. Tried to sue him, failed, then appealed, and they make this TV programme! He had one thousand lawsuits in his life, if I remember correctly. People were always out to get money, it was a daily occurrence", Fiddes said.
In the 2019 documentary made by HBO two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, claimed they were sexually abused by the late pop icon when they were kids and were friends with Jackson. The documentary caused an international outcry, with radio stations in many countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand banning Jackson’s music. The Simpsons even dropped an episode where the singer voiced a character.
Fans and friends of the singer claim Jackson is innocent, while the singer’s family called Robson and Safechuck opportunists. Incidentally both Safechuck and Robson testified during court cases in 1993 and 2005, in which Jackson was accused of molesting children. Back then both men, who were friends with Jackson and spent time with him, said the singer was innocent.