Michael Jackson Drank ‘Two Bottles of Cough Syrup a Night to Sleep’

Michael Jackson’s private struggle to sleep may have been even more disturbing than fans ever knew.

A former bodyguard for the King of Pop claims the superstar was so desperate for rest that he would sometimes down two full bottles of cough syrup in one night, far beyond the recommended dose on the label.

The shocking claim comes from Matt Fiddes, who worked as Jackson’s personal bodyguard from 1999 to 2009. According to Fiddes, Jackson would send him out to buy multiple bottles of cough syrup because the singer believed it was the only way he could get through the night.

But even that allegedly was not enough.

Fiddes said safety limits meant he often had to visit several different pharmacies to collect the medicine Jackson wanted. When he returned to the singer’s hotel room, he claimed he watched in horror as Jackson quickly drank bottle after bottle.

“I get to his hotel room, and it horrified me because he downed them,” Fiddes recalled during an appearance on The Art of Dialogue podcast. “He downed them. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then he got another one. Downed it.”

Fiddes said he tried to warn Jackson that he was taking far too much.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, I think you should just take two, five milliliter teaspoons of that, Mike,’” he said.

But according to the bodyguard, Jackson insisted he needed it.

“He said, ‘No, I have to have it. I won’t sleep. I got this important meeting in the morning. I got people flying in,’” Fiddes claimed.

The saddest part, according to Fiddes, was that even the massive amount of syrup did not work.

“He drank two bottles of it,” he said. “And he was still wide awake two hours later. He stayed up all night.”

Jackson’s desperate battle with insomnia would later become a major part of the tragic story surrounding his death.

The music icon eventually hired Dr. Conrad Murray to oversee his medical care. Murray was reportedly paid $150,000 a month and was tasked with helping Jackson sleep as the singer prepared for his planned comeback concerts.

Jackson biographer Steve Knopper has said the singer had tried to get doctors to give him stronger and stronger sleep drugs and painkillers, but many refused.

“But doctor Murray would say yes,” Knopper said.

Murray later administered propofol, a powerful anesthetic normally used in medical settings, to help Jackson sleep. The drug became central to the investigation into Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009.

At Murray’s trial, prosecutors revealed that Jackson had been receiving nightly propofol treatments for insomnia. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 and sentenced to four years in prison.

Fiddes also painted a heartbreaking picture of Jackson’s final years, claiming the singer was never the same after being accused of child molestation.

“It was clear after the trial verdict he was never going to be able to click his fingers and be back in Michael Jackson mode again,” Fiddes said.

He described Jackson near the end as a shell of the man the world once knew.

“He was like a walking dead man by the end,” Fiddes claimed. “Eating and sleeping was a battle. He was just a complete mess.”

Fiddes said the accusations took a devastating toll on Jackson, who he claimed wanted desperately to prove his innocence and move on with his life.

“He lost so much weight,” Fiddes said. “It took a big toll on him. But he was adamant he wanted to prove his innocence. Michael wanted to get all this rubbish behind him.”

The former bodyguard added that it was painful for Jackson to hear the allegations made against him.

“He struggled,” Fiddes said. “It was awful for him to hear all those things said about him.”

Nearly two decades after Jackson’s death, new claims about his final years continue to stir fascination, sadness, and debate among fans.

For millions, he remains one of the most gifted entertainers who ever lived.

But behind the glittering stage lights, moonwalks, and record-breaking fame, those who were closest to him say Jackson was also a deeply troubled man fighting private battles the public never fully saw.