Michael Jackson abandoned his beloved chimpanzee Bubbles as soon as he grew older and rarely spoke of him later, the late pop star's former maid Adrian McManus has claimed to The Sun.
According to McManus, who worked at the Neverland ranch between 1990 and 1994, the chimp was out of the house by the time she started working there and replaced with another, much younger ape named Max.
"By then he had moved onto Max. It was a bit like the little boys in his life, when they grew too old they would be gone".
The former maid said that Jackson had no photos of Bubbles in his house and hardly mentioned the chimp in conversation. McManus recalled one occasion when she asked the pop star about Bubbles. He replied that the pet had to be removed because he had become too strong and uncontrollable.
"He told me 'Adrian, Bubbles has the strength of 35 men, so if anything goes wrong it could be dangerous'. Interestingly I do recall the personnel manager saying that all the staff had insurance policies for hand injuries on site".
McManus also claimed claim the conditions that animals had been kept in at the Neverland ranch were far from perfect. According to her the animals there, elephants, giraffes and chimps, were running wild, mistreated and totally untrained.
"Animals died and disappeared all the time at Neverland, but unusually it was considered normal. Animal encounters going wrong would be treated like a joke and gossip by staff, rather than actually serious concerns".
Jackson often took Bubbles with him in his travels, including on the global tour for the album 'Bad' where they posed together for photoshoots and commercials. The King of Pop claimed he grew attached to his animal friend.
Bubbles was removed from Neverland by 2003 Bubbles as he matured and his behaviour became aggressive and uncontrollable, according to Jackson himself. The chimpanzee was first moved to an animal sanctuary in Sylmar, California. However, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt he was re-homed at the Center for Great Apes.
Bubbles, now 39, still resides at the centre with other apes — essentially a retirement home for animals — having outlived his former master, who died in June 2009 after his personal physician negligently gave him an overdose of general anaesthetic to help him sleep.
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