Brooke Shields with her longtime pal Michael Jackson
These two stars may seem like an unlikely pair, but the similarities surrounding their rise to fame are uncanny. Both child stars who went onto fame as an adult, both stars uniquely understood the cost of becoming a sensation at a young age. After meeting in 1978 the two young celebrities immediately became close. Shields explained:
We had a bond… both of us needed to be adults very early. It was the most natural and easiest of friendships… Michael always knew he could count on me to support him or be his date and that we would have fun no matter where we were.
In 1993 rumors circulated that the two were dating, and Shields later said that Jackson had asked her to marry him multiple times but she always turned him down. In 2001 Jackson explained the magical circumstances under which he met Brooke Shields:
She was one of the loves of my life… her pictures were all over my wall, my mirror, everything. and I went to the Academy Awards and this girl walks up to me and says ‘Hi, I’m Brooke Shields.’ Then she goes, ‘Are you going to the after-party?’ I go, ‘yeah.’ ‘Good, I’ll see you at the party.’ I’m going, ‘oh my god, does she know she’s all over my room?’ so we go to the after-party. She comes up to me she goes, ‘will you dance with me?’ I went, ‘yes. I will dance with you.’ man, we exchanged numbers and I was up all night, singing, spinning around my room, just so happy. It was great.
