Michael Jackson's Life Was A 'Prison' By The End, Says Longtime Guitarist

Money can’t buy you happiness… And apparently not freedom, either.

15 years to the day after Michael Jackson suddenly died, guitarist Jennifer Batten — who was by his side for three world tours — is opening up about the reality of his day-to-day life.

In conversation with The US Sun on Tuesday, the musician claimed life was far from free for the Smooth Criminal singer… In fact, she said it more accurately resembled a “prison.” She dished:

“I think people on the outside think that somebody that has that much fame must be happy. But it was a prison because anytime he wanted to go out to a bookstore or a movie there had to be six security guards that had to arrange it. “He didn’t have the freedom just to leave when he felt like it. It was 50-50 fame and pain. He was a creative tornado.”

Well, that’s the reality with the level of fame he amassed — for better or for worse. We’re sure Taylor Swift thinks twice before strolling into a bookstore on a whim, too! But prison?? It’s not like he was ACTUALLY locked up. But it’s not really a good comparison… since public opinion on the late artist definitely did shift late in his life…

That “pain” Jennifer mentioned like came from the controversial child sex abuse accusations in 1993 — or at least partially. The guitarist said:

“I think it was all bulls**t. That was on the cover of every magazine for a long, long time. It was all very dark and unfortunate. And ultimately Michael was proven innocent.”

Many don’t consider him to have been “proven innocent.” Certainly years later everyone looked at the evidence again, especially in the Leaving Neverland doc, and decided there was enough smoke there that they believed there was a fire. His perception was forever damaged from the start though, no doubt about that.

MJ died in 2009 as the result of cardiac arrest from a fatal dose of drugs. And when Jennifer heard the news, she didn’t know what to think:

“At first I didn’t believe it because I had heard many, many rumors over the years that weren’t true. But obviously, I found out it was true. My first thought was extreme sadness for his children, because that’s devastating, especially when you’re that young.”

She remembers Michael as “very radiant” and “super friendly.”

Thoughts, Perezcious readers?

[Images via Charlie Steffens/WENN]