Michael Jackson's Ex Lisa Marie Presley Blamed for 'Betraying' the King of Pop — How Their Ugly Divorce Sparked His Fatal Downward Spiral

Shocking testimony from the $40 billion Michael Jackson wrongful death suit has resurfaced on the 17th anniversary of his death – exposing his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley as a manipulative liar who sent the King of Pop into a tragic death spiral.

OK! can reveal fans of the troubled "Bad" singer – who died at age 50 on June 25, 2009 – are resharing a blockbuster courtroom statement which saw Jackson's longtime makeup artist revealing Presley begged Jackson to work on their failing marriage and then stunned the unsuspecting superstar by slapping him with divorce papers.

Now sources tell us they believe Presley's ugly betrayal broke Jackson's heart and led him to numb the pain with drugs.

"Michael trusted Lisa Marie more than anyone else in his life," said a Jackson family insider. "When she betrayed him, he was consumed with sadness and used drugs as an emotional escape. His drug use increased immensely after that and led him down the self-destructive path that ultimately ended with his death."

Presley married Jackson in May 1994, but sources say the union quickly unraveled over his controlling nature, the controversial religion Scientology and accusations Jackson was a child molester.

In a dramatic courtroom appearance, Jackson's former makeup artist Karen Faye described how a deceitful Presley – who died on January 12, 2023, at the age of 54 following a cardiac arrest – manipulated the "Thriller" star into thinking their marriage could be saved, and then pulled the rug out from under him by filing for divorce in January 1996.

"Lisa Marie Presley was calling Michael, begging him not to divorce her," Faye testified in the wrongful death suit filed by Jackson's heirs against concert promoter AEG.

"They weren't getting along. She said, 'Let's try to work this out.' Michael kept saying, 'No, I don't think it's going to work.' She begged and begged, 'Please don't file, please don't file.' So he promised her he wouldn't file for divorce. The next morning it was all over the press – she filed for divorce. He was devastated. He had decided to really try again with her. Then she turned around and did that."

Faye's testimony offered the first-ever glimpse at the inner workings of the couple's bitter split – and it's sparked an outcry over Presley's dirty divorce dealings.

"Lisa Marie's decision to go behind Michael's back and file for divorce was definitely a well-planned strategy that left him emotionally and psychologically wounded," Ian Halperin, who interviewed Faye for his 2009 unauthorized biography Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson said.

He added: "Michael was a fragile person who turned to prescription medication for emotional escape. That's why Lisa Marie's divorce betrayal was such a damaging turning point in his life."

Despite their nasty split, Jackson – who was killed by heart attack after he took a huge dose of hospital tranquilizer propofol – was thrilled when he tied the knot with Presley, noted a family insider.

"Michael was a huge fan of Elvis Presley," said our source. "To him, there was no greater prize than marrying the king's daughter. So he was shell-shocked when he learned Lisa Marie had double-crossed him by asking him not to file for divorce, and then going behind his back to file the papers first. He trusted her implicitly, and when she broke that trust it sent him into a tailspin that he was never able to recover from."

Insiders say when the couple married, Lisa Marie hoped to convince Michael to join the controversial Church of Scientology, which she belonged to at the time.

"With Michael's worldwide fan base, recruiting him as a member would have helped Scientology universally," noted another source.

While Ian says Michael came very close to joining the church, he eventually decided against it, inflicting a serious blow to his relationship with Lisa Marie.

Years later, she said she ended the marriage because she was troubled by how Michael tried to control her life.

But sources believe the union was irretrievably broken when Lisa Marie stumbled across evidence she came to believe confirmed the molestation charges leveled against Michael in 1993 by a 13-year-old boy.

Lisa Marie's step-uncle, Rev. Rick Stanley, said in January 1998 during an intense 10-hour session with Lisa Marie: "She said, 'I didn't (believe the allegations) until I went to Michael's bedroom. In the closet, I found videos and magazines that convinced me the story is true.'"

In a shocking disclosure, the Rick added she said: "Please tell me, have you ever heard of a p-------- getting his life turned around?"

The ugly episode didn't sit well with her relatives.

"Lisa's family feared her association with Michael would damage the Presley name and wanted her to distance herself from him," said an insider. "But she promised she wouldn't divorce him, and when she did, it absolutely destroyed Michael. It pushed him further into a downward spiral of drug abuse."

Another source added: "Lisa Marie's sucker-punch divorce left Michael feeling not only betrayed, but also terrified of what she could expose about his personal life. He was a nervous wreck, and that led to a perfect storm of emotional conflict that heightened his dependency on painkillers."

Ian concluded: "After Lisa Marie betrayed Michael, not even his family or tight-knit group of friends could save him from drugs. He went down a dark path, and couldn't find his way back."