Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson: Inside Their Long Friendship

Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson were two of the most famous young people in the world at the same time. Shields has long described the relationship as a close friendship. Jackson, in his own telling, described it differently.

Shields has said she was 13 when they met, according to Entertainment Weekly. Both had been in the spotlight since early childhood, and she has said that shared experience is what drew them together.

At his memorial in 2009, she put it this way: "We had a bond and maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight."

Movies, candy and a Grammys night

Shields has described their time together as simple. In a 2014 interview with People, around the release of her memoir There Was a Little Girl, she said: "We joked about how silly people were and watched movies and ate candy."

They also appeared together in public. Shields attended the 1984 Grammy Awards as Jackson's guest, the night he won eight trophies for Thriller.

In her 2023 documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, directed by Lana Wilson, she addressed what the relationship was. Asked whether there was more to it, she answered: "We hung out," according to Entertainment Weekly. The film premiered at Sundance on Jan. 20, 2023, and has streamed on Hulu since April 3, 2023.

Watch the "Pretty Baby" trailer

The official trailer for Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.

The 1993 interview that strained things

On Feb. 10, 1993, Jackson told Oprah Winfrey in a live television interview that he and Shields were dating.

Shields has said that was not true. At the time, she was seeing actor Dean Cain. She told The Sunday Times in 2023 that she called Jackson afterward and told him: "This is kind of pathetic that you need to do this." She also recalled telling him: "No! Stop! We are just friends and you need me as a friend."

Jackson's account was different. In taped conversations with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, recorded in 2000 and 2001 and published in 2009 as The Michael Jackson Tapes, Jackson is quoted as calling Shields "one of the loves of my life." He is quoted as adding, "I think she loved me as much as I loved her... you know, we dated a lot." Boteach has described working as a ghostwriter for Jackson, so the quotes come through his account.

Shields has said they never dated. In the documentary, she says Jackson at one point brought up adopting a child together, noting it is "easier to adopt a child if you're two people," according to Entertainment Weekly.

Saying goodbye

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at 50. On July 7, 2009, Shields spoke at his memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"Michael always knew that he could count on me to support him or be his date," she said. She added: "Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids having fun."

In a commemorative Rolling Stone issue that summer, she said, "We always seemed to revert to being little kids," according to the Associated Press.

Years later, she said Jackson stayed in touch quietly. On Watch What Happens Live in 2018, she recalled that when her father, Frank Shields, died in 2003, Jackson sent flowers: "He sent me a beautiful, beautiful floral arrangement when my dad died." "I still have the vase," she added, according to UPI.

Meeting Paris

The connection carried over to Jackson's daughter. Shields met Paris Jackson at a Calvin Klein show during New York Fashion Week in September 2017, according to E! News.

On Watch What Happens Live in February 2018, Shields said she told Paris, "I really miss your dad." Paris answered, "Me too." Shields called it "just a pure moment."

How their stories line up

A timeline of the friendship

Read more: Paris Jackson's $600M Estate Battle Takes a New Turn in Court