Was MJ drunk during 'This is It' press conference?

London: Michael Jackson's friend Mark Lester has revealed that the 'King of Pop' would drink up to six bottles of wine a day and was 'paralytic' at the press conference of his comeback tour.

The popstar, who died at the age of 50 due to a sedative overdose three months after announcing his comeback, got hooked to drinking to control his insomnia, the Sun reported.

Lester, a former actor and godfather to Jackson's three children, said he would smuggle bottles to Jackson's hotel room past the strict Muslim security team.

But Jackson's drinking habit spiralled out of control on the day of his press conference in March 2009 where he was to announced 'This Is It' 50-date residency at London's O2 Arena.

"Michael passed out on the hotel bed. His doctor said he'd drunk two-thirds of a bottle of whisky and was paralytic. He sobered up enough to struggle through the This Is It speech, which he just about got away with," Lester said.

Jackson's family is suing promoters AEG over his death at the hands of Conrad Murray, the singer's personal physician at that time.