Michael Jackson allegedly cried when Marlon Brando confronted him about child sexual abuse allegations
Michael Jackson allegedly cried when Marlon Brando confronted him about child sexual abuse allegations
The public’s fascination with Michael Jackson continues. On what would have been his 61st birthday, it’s being reported that the King of Pop was once confronted by his friend Marlon Brando over the child abuse allegations against him — and Jackson broke down in tears.
The podcast Telephone Stories: The Trials of Michael Jackson touts in a press release that it obtained the sworn account Brando gave to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys on March 14, 1994, and that interview — which was recorded and transcribed — will be featured in its season finale on Sunday. In it, Brando reportedly told authorities, “I think it’s pretty reasonable to conclude that [Jackson] may have had something to do with kids.”
The reclusive Oscar winner — a close friend and visitor to Neverland Ranch — had been contacted by the D.A.’s office and spoke with district attorneys Bill Hodgman, of O.J. Simpson trial fame, and Lauren Weis about “an unusual conversation he had with Jackson and his suspicions concerning the King of Pop’s behavior around young boys,” according to the press release. He also relayed “impressions and concerns” he had discussed with his son, Miko C. Brando, who worked as a security guard for Jackson.
Brando detailed a “tear-filled conversation” he had with Jackson at Neverland Ranch, the release states. It reportedly took place after Brando confronted Jackson during a private dinner and acting lesson and it “culminated in a revealing exchange between the two men.” Weis, now a judge, confirmed the interview with Brando about Jackson to the Los Angeles Times.
According to Brando’s documented account, Jackson broke down in tears during the talk and admitted he hated his father, Joe Jackson. The conversation then turned to homosexuality and the children he was accused of sexually abusing, as Jackson had first been investigated for child molestation in 1993. Brando reportedly said that Jackson ended up crying so hard that the superstar had to comfort him.
That’s when Brando told prosecutors, “With this mode of behavior that’s been going on, I think it’s pretty reasonable to conclude that he may have had something to do with kids.”
That said, Brando noted that Jackson never came out and said he was gay or admitted to sexual relations with the boys. Instead, he kept crying and was so shaken by the conversation that Brando thought he was telling him something.
“My impression, was that he didn’t want to answer because he was frightened to answer me,” Brando said.
Marlon Brando during Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary Celebration Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photo: KMazur/WireImage)
Brando also reportedly told the D.A. that the childlike Jackson never cursed and didn’t like when people used the F word. He was especially uncomfortable when being asked about his sex life.
“I had asked him if he was a virgin and he sort of laughed and giggled, and he called me Brando,” the actor told prosecutors. “He said, ‘Oh, Brando.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you do for sex?’ And he was acting fussy and embarrassed.”
Brando also asked, “Well, who are your friends?’ He said, ‘I don’t know anybody my own age. I don’t like anybody my own age.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’ He was crying hard enough that ... I tried to assuage him. I tried to help him all I could.”
This is the first time the conversation between Brando and Jackson has been made public because it was never used as evidence in Jackson’s 2005 trial — which resulted in the pop star’s acquittal. Brando died in 2004 followed by Jackson in 2009.
After Brando’s death, his son Miko told the L.A. Times his dad counted the pop star among his closest friends in his final years.
"The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time, it was with Michael Jackson. He loved it,” Miko said. “[He] had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service. Just carte blanche.”
Miko said that the men met through “Quincy Jones back in the 1980s.”