Michael Jackson once woke up his assistant at 3 AM for an unusual shopping trip: "He didn't like..."
Michael Jackson has to be one of the most mysterious celebrities of the 21st century, with curiosity about his life still at its peak even sixteen years after his passing. Known for his unique dance style and dynamic voice, Jackson often made headlines for his bizarre antics, such as covering his children’s faces and wearing tapes in public. But the King of Pop even had more weird late-night habits, where he once called his assistant at 3 in the morning and asked for a very unusual thing.
In an interview with The Sun, Jackson's former personal assistant Scott Shaffer shared some of his unusual habits. For context, Shaffer first met Jackson while working as a production assistant on the Black or White music video. The two soon became friends, and Jackson later hired him as a personal assistant, where he worked for seven years. Recalling Jackson’s unpredictable schedule, Shaffer said, "He really had no conception of what time it was, so you could easily be getting calls like two o'clock in the morning."
He also shared an amusing memory from their time in Australia, saying, "One funny time was when we were in Australia, and he called me at 3 am and told me he was engaged to Debbie Rowe and how I should go open up a jewelry store and get an engagement ring for him to give to her." However, refusing Jackson wasn't easy. "He didn't like it when I said no. Telling him no was hard; he didn't like hearing no." Shaffer recalled a motto he and Jackson shared during their time working together, stating, "We had this saying between the two of us, 'We can do anything, and no one can tell us no.'"
He also explained how dedicated he was to fulfilling Jackson's requests, saying, "Because he would set me these assignments, and I'd give 300 percent to get it done, so if I said no, it was a big deal." When Jackson asked him to buy an engagement ring for Rowe, Shaffer initially hesitated. "I told him I didn't know anything about jewelry, so one of his secretaries, who knew Debbie and would know better than I what kind of ring she would like, went the next day, and I went along with her." Shaffer eventually left his job around 1998, saying he had grown "a little bored" and was looking for a new challenge. However, he remained in touch with Jackson over the years and also attended his funeral in 2009.
Notably, Jackson was highly aware of how the "Wacko Jacko" perception was damaging his career in the early 1990s. According to the podcast 'Think Twice: Michael Jackson,' Jackson closely examined market research, which was filled with harsh comments about his appearance and habits, the New York Post reported. Dan Beck, a former executive at Epic Records who worked with Jackson leading up to the release of 'Dangerous' in 1991, said, "At that time, some of the non-musical issues were surfacing, some of the tabloid stuff—you know, plastic surgery, all that stuff. And we were very, very concerned about these things getting in the way of Michael's music." By early 1993, as 'Dangerous' sales were dropping, Jackson made a deliberate effort to reshape "the weirdo narrative," as Jay Smooth, who co-hosts "Think Twice" with Leon Ney, described it.