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Jackson believed God was talking to him, producer testifies

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Michael Jackson fans from left, Karlene Taylor, Yvonne Francis, Latrenda White and Jamie Lee, speak out against AEG Live. A jury found Wednesday that AEG Live was not liable in the death of the pop superstar.   (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Jury foreman Gregg Barden, center, listens to a reporter’s question about their verdict in the civil trial over the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson and three grandchildren against AEG Live in the death of singer Michael Jackson.   (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos gathers the verdict documents moments before they were publicly disclosed.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, Deborah Chang, left and Kevin Boyle listen as jurors are polled following the verdict in the civil trial that lasted for five months.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam smiles during verdict polling at the conclusion of the Katherine Jackson v. AEG Live civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The jury found AEG not liable in Michael Jackson’s death. AEG attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina is at left.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Brian Panish, left, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, speaks with Kathryn Cahan and Marvin Putnam, attorneys with AEG Live LLC ,in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial Thursday in downtown Los Angeles.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Bailiffs are sworn in to protect the jury as Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, waits during the trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The singer’s family has sued the entertainment firm AEG Live LLC, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed the singer.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Brian Panish, an attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 24. The promoters of Michael Jackson’s last tour were “so excited” about making huge profits that they hired an unfit doctor to care for the star, his family’s lawyer said.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Marvin Putnam, lead attorney for AEG Live LLC and co-counsel Jessica Stebbins-Bina, listen to closing arguments by Michael Jackson family’s attorney, Brian Panish, in a packed courtroom Sept. 24.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live LLC on Sept. 24.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam gives closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 25.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos listens to a rebuttal argument in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 26.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying at the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live.  (Nick Ut / Associated Press)
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Television crews report live outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles on the first day of the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit.  (Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)
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In this file photo dated Sept. 27, 2011, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson arrives outside Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear opening statement in the involuntary manslaughter trial of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was convicted and sentenced to prison.   (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)
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Singer Janet Jackson, left, Paris Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and LaToya Jackson are seen on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009.   (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
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Entertainer Michael Jackson announces on March 5, 2009, that he will play a series of comeback concerts at the London O2 Arena in July. Jackson died before the concerts could be held.   (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)
By Corina Knoll and Jeff Gottlieb
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Michael Jackson’s behavior and gaunt figure were so troublesome to a producer that she told the director of the “This Is It” concert series that she believed the singer was dying and should be immediately taken to a hospital.

Alif Sankey also testified Wednesday that the director for the concerts told her Jackson believed God was talking with him.

Sankey recalled that on her way home from rehearsal one night, she pulled her car over and called Kenny Ortega, who was directing what was to be Jackson’s comeback tour. It was only days before Jackson’s first concert was to take place.

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“I said, ‘He needs to be put in the hospital now,’ ” Sankey said. “He kept listening to me because I kept going. I kept saying, ‘Michael’s dying, he’s dying.’”

Sankey, who was emotional and paused during her testimony, said she begged Ortega to do something.

“Please, please. I kept saying that. I asked him, ‘Why is no one seeing what I’m seeing?’ ”

Sankey testified that the previous night, Jackson had been at rehearsal for a costume fitting but was sent home because he “was not looking good or feeling good.”

Afterward, Sankey said that Ortega was worried about Jackson, who mentioned God was speaking to him. Both became emotional after discussing their concern for Jackson.

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“[Michael] didn’t understand why God was speaking to him. We were both crying. We were crying because he seemed — he was not speaking normally to Kenny.”

A few Jackson fans in the courtroom sniffled throughout Sankey’s testimony.

The civil suit was filed by Jackson’s family who allege that concert promoter AEG was responsible for hiring and controlling Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered the fatal dose of propofol to Jackson in 2009.

Sankey said after being copied on an email from an AEG executive about Murray that she had believed the doctor was paid by AEG.

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corina.knoll@latimes.com

@corinaknoll

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Corina Knoll

Corina Knoll is a former reporter for the Metro section of the Los Angeles Times. She was on the team that investigated corruption in Bell — which led to the paper’s 2011 Pulitzer Prize for public service — and went on to cover the trials of the city’s former officials. She later contributed to the paper’s coverage of the San Bernardino terror attack that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. As a regional reporter, she wrote features about the San Gabriel Valley and the Westside. During her courts beat, she covered high-profile criminal cases and civil disputes, including the Jackson family vs AEG and Bryan Stow vs LA Dodgers. She and two colleagues investigated sheriff’s deputies whose histories of misconduct landed them on the department’s top-secret Brady list. She left The Times in January 2019. Raised in the Midwest, she is a graduate of Macalester College.

Jeff Gottlieb

Former Los Angeles Times staff writer Jeff Gottlieb shared the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011 for uncovering corruption in Bell. He also received the George Polk and the Selden Ring awards, among others. He previously won a Polk award while working at the San Jose Mercury News for uncovering Stanford’s questionable spending of federal funds. He received a bachelor’s in sociology from Pitzer College in Claremont and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.

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