Michael Jackson's family blames Martin Bashir for singer's death

Martin Bashir is facing fresh accusations that he manipulated his 1993 documentary on Michael Jackson following findings that he deceived Princess Diana into doing her Panorama interview.

The journalist interviewed the singer over a span of eight months, from May 2002 to January 2003, for "Living with Michael Jackson." In the documentary, the singer talks about his love life, his family, children, and the inspiration behind his songs.

Following its release on ITV in February 2003, Jackson accused Bashir of manipulating the contents of the film. He called the documentary a "gross distortion" of his life and a "sensationalised innuendo" that led viewers to misinterpret that he abused children.

"Martin Bashir persuaded me to trust him that this would be an honest and fair portrayal of my life, and told me he was 'the man that turned Diana's life around.' Today I feel more betrayed than perhaps ever before - that someone, who had got to know my children, my staff, and me, whom I let into my heart and told the truth, could then sacrifice the trust I placed in him and produce this terrible and unfair programme," Jackson said at the time as quoted by The Guardian.

Years later, the family of the King of Pop is considering their legal options after Bashir was found guilty of using deceitful means to secure his Princess Diana interview. Taj, the son of the singer's brother Tito, blamed the reporter for his uncle's death in 2009.

"Bashir's manipulated footage and unethically [sic] journalism is one of the main reasons my uncle Michael is not here today. That 2005 trial broke him. Shame on those who provided cover for Bashir. Shame on those who rewarded him. My family deserves an investigation & apology too," he wrote on Twitter.

Tito, on the other hand, told Mirror that both his brother and Princess Diana were "victims of Bashir's dark ambitions and dirty tricks and he is finally paying the price." He accused the journalist of creating "a fake narrative" about the singer, which "becomes crystal clear when you view the out-takes Bashir kept secret."

"He used Michael's trust and friendship with Diana to get the interview, manipulated Michael throughout the interview, then deceptively edited the footage," Tito said.

Meanwhile, TV psychic Uri Geller told the publication that Bashir used a letter purportedly from Princess Diana to convince him to introduce Jackson to him. He used the same tactic when he showed fake bank documents to the royal's brother to urge her to do the Panorama interview.

"It was folded two or three times and there was a logo on it. He said it was from Princess Diana, writing to him about how happy she was with the interview. I had felt unease, but it was the Diana letter that won my feelings over," Geller said as he described Bashir as a "super-smooth operator" and admitted that he regrets the "terrible introduction."

Jackson's family believes that the lies Bashir told in "Living with Michael Jackson" ultimately destroyed the singer's career. Geller believes it was the beginning of his downward spiral.