The 5 Weirdest Michael Jackson Moments

1. “Bid” on the skeleton of the “Elephant Man.”
Michael Jackson was known to be very liberal with his spending, throwing tens of thousands of dollars on kitsch, putting up “Neverland Ranch” and filling it with exotic animals. Probably, the most bizarre item he would have owned if he had successfully bought it was the skeleton of Joseph Carrey Merrick, the infamous “Elephant Man” who died in 1890. Merrick’s bones have been kept in the London Hospital Medical College. When these were up for auction, Jackson made an official bid for a sum that has not been revealed. Other stories had it that Jackson made an outright offer of $1million to the London Hospital Medical College for the skeleton. Jackson later denied in interviews, saying that he was never interested in paying for Merrick’s skeleton.

“Bid” on the skeleton of the “Elephant Man.”

2. Slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
The year was 1986. The muck-racking publication the National Enquirer came out with photos of Jackson inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. According to the accompanying article, Jackson slept in the chamber. He said that doing that extended his life by decelerating his aging process. The pictures were authentic but Jackson’s assertions were not. True to his mastery of manipulating the media, Jackson made up the story to promote a movie he had just done. The film was Captain EO, directed by the iconic Francis Ford Coppola.

Slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

3. Turns white.
He maintained that he had a rare skin disease that made his black skin turn pasty white. At least he did not say that his suddenly Caucasian looks were not a side effect of the disease. He told Oprah Winfrey that the only plastic surgery he had on his face was a routine nose job. Jackson tried to deflect questions on his “skin condition” by saying he had vitiligo, which took the pigment away from his skin. There were accusations that Jackson allegedly hated being black.

4. Dated Brooke Shields & Married Elvis Presley’s daughter.
When his homosexuality was more or less an open secret, Jackson still had pretensions of heterosexuality. He dated the stunningly beautiful actress Brooke Shields in the early part of the 1980s, in high profile outings that Jackson said were not meant to be, as he tried to keep these a secret from the public. It was most likely another of his media ploys to reduce suspicions about his sexuality. He went further by marrying Lisa Marie Presley, the late rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Elvis’s daughter. It was a perfect PR move: the King of Pop marrying the daughter of the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll. Sadly for popular music, no Son or Daughter of Pop Rock was produced from the union.

Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson

Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson

5. Died too early at age 50.
He was supposed to be invincible, immortal. Everybody thought Jackson was a semi-mythic figure. He had a stellar showbiz career extending from his preteen years to his forties. For sure, he was a survivor, reinventing his image (not to mention his skin color and his entire face) and keeping the public interested in him for so long. Jackson, despite the seamy child-molester tag that will forever be attached to him, was one of the greatest entertainers of all time. A superb dancer that had Fred Astaire in awe, a singing voice that made the great rock singer Freddy Mercury idolize him, and a gift for public relations unsurpassed in the 20th century – he was the complete package. He will always be remembered more for the joy he gave his fans than for anything else. He is probably immortal after all.

LA Times Frontpage Featuring the Death of Michael Jackson

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1. BBC News (unconfirmed report as of 3:00pm Los Angeles): Michael Jackson is dead! ROD: cardiac arrest. He is 50. ...