Article updated: 9/2/2012 6:39 PM

Concert promoters’ email: Michael Jackson ‘is scared to death’

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In this March 17, 2005, file photo, Michael Jackson arrives at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif. Promoters of Jackson's planned 2009 comeback, described in emails released Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, show they feared for the megastar's stability, saying he was out of shape and often consumed with self-doubt.

Associated Press

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Promoters of Michael Jackson's planned 2009 comeback described in emails how they feared for the megastar's stability, saying he was out of shape and consumed with self-doubt. The LA Times obtained some 250 pages of messages, most between executives at Anschutz Entertainment Group, which was financing the "This Is It" concerts set for London. "MJ is locked in his room drunk and despondent,"an AEG executive said in an email shortly before a news conference announcing the tour. "I (am) trying to sober him up."