Why did michael hired conrad murray and when and how did he met him?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Michael Jackson first met Dr. Conrad Murray in Las Vegas in 2006 when Murray was called to treat Jackson’s daughter Paris after she fell ill, and that early medical encounter developed into a rapport that led Jackson to hire Murray as his exclusive personal physician in the spring of 2009 ahead of the This Is It concerts [1][2][3]. Jackson insisted Murray be on the payroll of his promoter for the tour, AEG Live, at an approximately $150,000 monthly fee, a decision driven by Jackson’s reported need for a trusted, round‑the‑clock physician amid chronic insomnia and intense rehearsal demands — a choice critics later scrutinized when Murray administered propofol to treat that insomnia [1][4][5].
1. How they met: a 2006 Las Vegas call that turned into rapport
Multiple contemporaneous accounts and later timelines agree that the relationship began in late 2006 when a member of Jackson’s entourage reached out to Murray to treat an ill child while the family was in Las Vegas; Murray treated Paris Jackson and the interaction is described as the moment the two men “first met,” after which they remained friendly [2][3][6].
2. When Jackson formally hired Murray: spring 2009, before This Is It rehearsals
As Michael Jackson prepared his comeback This Is It concerts in mid‑2009, Jackson secured Murray as his exclusive personal physician in May 2009 (reported in several outlets) so Murray could be on hand during rehearsals and the planned London residency that would begin in July 2009 [3][7][8].
3. Why Jackson chose Murray: trust, access and medical oversight during a high‑pressure tour
Reporting and trial testimony frame Jackson’s choice as rooted in trust formed from prior medical care and a desire for a physician who would travel with him and be present during rehearsals; Jackson “insisted” that Murray be employed by AEG Live so Murray would be effectively on‑site and accountable to the production during the run‑up to the shows [1][3][6].
4. The financial and clinical context that shaped the hire
Two intersecting pressures help explain the hire: Jackson was struggling with severe insomnia that his close advisers and some doctors believed required intensive management, with at least one defense theme claiming Jackson had concluded propofol was the only effective treatment, while Murray — who was reported to have longstanding financial strains — accepted the high monthly compensation that accompanied the assignment [5][7][1].
5. Competing narratives and institutional reluctance
AEG Live executives later said they would have preferred not to employ a full‑time physician because of cost, but that Jackson’s insistence and his rapport with Murray prevailed; this difference highlights an implicit tension between artist autonomy and promoter risk management that reviewers and courts later examined [3][4].
6. Aftermath and why the hiring matters historically
The hire became legally and culturally pivotal after Jackson’s June 25, 2009 death; prosecutors and press traced a direct line from the decision to have Murray on call — and to Jackson’s reported reliance on intravenous sedatives — to the medical care that night, which culminated in Murray’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter [8][9][5]. Sources diverge on motive emphasis: fans and some defenders stress friendship and trust [2], while prosecutors emphasized professional failures and financial inducement [5][9].
7. What reporting does not settle
The public record assembled in court and the press establishes when and how they met and why Jackson hired Murray, but it cannot, from the cited sources alone, fully disentangle Jackson’s private medical preferences from external influences such as financial arrangements or advice from other doctors; those finer points remain contested in memoirs and trial narratives [2][5].