Madonna has made a personal tribute to Michael Jackson at an awards show in New York.She told the audience everyone, including her, had been guilty of "abandoning him".
The Queen of Pop described her connection with Jackson and spoke of her regrets at losing touch with the star over time.
She told this year's MTV Video Music Awards: "I felt his pain, I know what it's like to walk down the street and feel like the whole world is turned against you."
Madonna empathised with Jackson's battle against a "witch hunt" of public attention "so loud you're convinced your voice can never be heard".
But unlike Jackson, she said her anonymous childhood had meant she "was allowed to make mistakes and find my own way in the world without being in the spotlight".
The 51-year-old then spoke of her emotions when word of his death had reached her.
She said: "All I could think about in that moment was I had abandoned him.
"We had allowed this magnificent creature who once set the world on fire to somehow slip through the cracks."While he was trying to build a family and rebuild his career, we were all busy passing judgment, most of us had turned our backs on him."
Madonna's tribute was then followed by a musical celebration of the late star.
A montage of his music videos, including Thriller and Bad, were played on the big screen, while performers dressed like Jackson danced in his signature style on the stage in front.
They were joined by Janet Jackson who came out to perform her part of the song Scream, which she had released as a duet with her brother in 1995.