Rupert Everett Attacks Michael Jackson: "I Think It Was Fortuitous That He Died"

British actor Rupert Everett has launched an astonishing attack on Michael Jackson, as millions of fans around the world continue to mourn the superstar's shocking death.

Everett - the star of My Best Friend's Wedding and the voice of Prince Charming in Shrek --reportedly told the UK Daily Mirror newspaper: "I think it was fortuitous that he died. He was supposed to be doing 50 concerts in London - it wouldn't have mattered how good or bad he was, he wouldn't have managed to do all of them and the press would have destroyed him."

Everett - a long-time pal of Madonna's - believes that the 2005 sex abuse charges that the singer was eventually cleared off really killed the famous singer.

"He was a freak - he looked like a character from Shrek - he was black to white minstrel," Everett told the Mirror.

"Jackson was crucified by the court case when he was accused of child molestation - that killed him. He personified the pain and anxiety of a black man in a slave country - we all watched as he changed from black to white - he was living performance art."

Autopsy reports are still pending into Jackson's death at his Holmby Hills mansion on June 25 after he suffered cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on arriving at the hospital.

Following his untimely death Everett predicts that it could mark the end of modern day celebrity.

"You cannot divide the music from the person," added Everett. "I think his life - and death - is a great lesson. I think we are going to see the end of celebrity as we know it. Show-business is not an honest profession.

It's like the last days of Versailles  - I do wonder how much more (expletive)  people can take about celebrities. We're living in very strange times. We have Michael Jackson, a black man who has gone white, and we have President Barack Obama, who is a half white man gone black - it's fascinating to watch."

Openly gay Everett, 50, did confess that he understood the attraction people had to Jackson in his heyday.

"I would have lept at the chance of sleeping with Michael Jackson when I was 14," he joked.

His comments are sure to infuriate a lot of Michael Jackson fans but he is known for his outspoken nature and controversial remarks.

The actor has talked in the past about how he worked as a rent boy to fund his drugs habit when he attended stage school in London in the past.