ONTD

Over night, the internet exploded with the news that, in a recent interview with OK Magazine, former teen idol Aaron Carter claimed that Michael Jackson had once given him cocaine and booze -- all when he was only 15-years-old.

Yet today, the audio of Daphne Barak's interview with Carter was posted online -- revealing that Carter said no such thing!

According to a transcript of the audio, the now 23-year-old instead told tabloid-journalist Daphne Barak that he once attended a party at Neverland Ranch with his older brother Nick, actor Chris Tucker, and many other guests. During the party, Carter witnessed Jackson drinking alcohol. "It was fun," he said, "'cause I don't think Michael ever really got a chance to do stuff like that."

"Did you have a drink [at the party]?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, a little," Carter replied.

When later questioned about Michael Jackson having an alleged addiction to prescription drugs, Carter plainly stated: "I personally didn't see any drug addiction issues [with Michael]."

"I mean, there was definitely things that were just different, you know, weird," he said of the singer's behavior, before again conceding that "the time that I spent with him, yes, he was fine."

The interview ended with Aaron playing a Michael Jackson song on piano, as a tribute. "I wanted to express a message to him so that he could hear it," the singer said. "I want to protect his legacy. It's funny because a lot of the things that Michael did that I want to do."

There you have it. No cocaine. No adult purposefully supplying a minor with alcohol. No phone calls to the police. So how did this massive twisting-of-words come about? The answer may lie with the article's author. . . .

Tabloid-contributor Daphne Barak, some may recall, interviewed Michael Jackson's former nanny, Grace Rwaramba, shortly after the King of Pop's death in 2009. In video footage of the interview, Rwaramba expressed her frustration over being fired by Jackson's team -- understandable and in no way controversial. Yet Barak's later publication of the interview suddenly had Grace the Nanny claiming that she had pumped her former employer's stomach for drugs, several times!

Rwaramba quickly fired back: "I am shocked, hurt and deeply saddened by recent statements the press has attributed to me. [...] The statements attributed to me confirm the worst in human tendencies to sensationalize tragedy and smear reputations for profit."

"I don't even know how to pump a stomach!!" she added.

The former-nanny's close friend, Mallika Chopra (daughter of Deepak Chopa), then took to the blog-o-sphere, defending Rwaramba and explaining the full situation of how "so-called journalist" Daphne Barak had acted as a confidant, baited for information, and then manipulated it for her subsequent article.

Grace the Nanny was not the first to accuse the platinum haired "journalist" of such dirty dealings, either.

Shortly after the late Princess Diana's tragic death, Barak ran afoul of the law for breaching an agreement with Mohamed Al Fayed, regarding an interview he'd given. A judge subsequently ruled Barak "in contempt of court for being evasive about her whereabouts when attempts were made to serve papers on her." Instead of sticking around to see whether she'd end up in the slammer or not, Barak reportedly fled, living "on the run" for four months.

And in 2008, after writing an exploitative article about Benazir Bhutto (the late former leader of Pakistan), Barak again found herself bombarded by heavy criticism. Here, she was accused of "blatantly manufacturing details that cannot be independently verified about Bhutto's life." (Are you beginning to see a pattern?)

"While biased journalism may be tolerated in many circles, Daphne Barak crossed the line into complete fiction," wrote the Daily Kos. "Barak could best serve the public by ceasing her shameful, tabloid-style writing, and blatant manufacturing of hurtful lies."

All of which begs the question: Is this what happened with Aaron Carter's comments about Michael Jackson?

After all, the recently released audio of the interview between Carter and Barak is quite vanilla. It's hard to imagine Carter praising Jackson so highly in the clip we currently have, only to turn around and then claim (in the very same interview) that Jackson gave cocaine and booze to a minor.

We'll just have to wait and see, when an official response from Carter and/or his PR team pops up. . . .

Update from TMZ:

"Aaron Carter's representative claims the singer NEVER told an entertainment reporter Michael Jackson gave him cocaine and alcohol when he was 15 years old ... and says the reporter COMPLETELY FABRICATED the story." (Read more at TMZ)

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