In early 1991, Michael Jackson and Madonna had a much-publicized dinner date at The Ivy. This was followed up a few days later by an unforgettable entrance at the Oscars, where they turned up wearing color-coordinating outfits and sat in the best seats in the house.
Michael and Madonna leaving The Ivy
At the time, Madonna was on the verge of releasing her controversial film In Bed With Madonna, and Michael Jackson had just signed the biggest deal in music history with Sony, to the tune of a six-album record and film contract that was estimated to earn him as much as $1 billion. He was also about to release his 8th album, Dangerous.
Two months after their appearance at the Oscars, Madonna spoke to the lesbian and gay magazine The Advocate about Michael Jackson. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
Advocate: …I keep telling Michael Jackson, “I’d love to turn Jose and Luis [Madonna's dancers] on you for a week.” They pull you out of the shoe box you’re in. Anybody who’s in a shoe box in the closet cannot be in one after hanging around with Luis and Jose. Or me, for that matter.
Madonna: I have this whole vision about Michael. We’re considering working on a song together. I would like to completely redo his whole image, give him a Caesar — you know, that really short haircut — and I want to get him out of those buckly boots and all that stuff. What I want him to do is go to New York and hang out for a week with the House of Extravaganza [ a group of voguers]. They could give him a new style. I’ve already asked Jose and Luis if they would do it. They’re thrilled and ready. I said, “Could you give this guy a make-over for me?” because I think that’s really what he needs.
Advocate: Is he up for it?
Michael and Madonna at The Oscars
At some point, Michael must’ve started saying “no” because the collaboration never happened.
In October 1992, Madonna gave an interview to The Seattle Times in which she spoke about their failed collaboration:
Madonna: “What, am I supposed not to tell things?”
The Seattle Times: No, but you seem to be breaking unwritten rules.
Madonna: “Yeah, because I’m an outspoken person. I’m opinionated and people ask me things and I say them. If I don’t want to say something I’ll say I don’t want to, but I don’t understand why celebrities become celebrities and then spend the rest of their life hiding. I’m not ashamed of a lot of the things I do, so I don’t feel like I have to hide it. Also a lot of interesting things happen to me and I like to tell interesting anecdotes.”
The Seattle Times: Were you disappointed that the duet didn’t happen?
Madonna: “No, not at all.”
The Seattle Times: You did sound very keen to make it special when you talked to The Advocate.
Madonna: “No, I mean, I think Michael Jackson is a very talented man, but I think he’s gone past a certain point. He operates in a world that I don’t want any part of. I don’t want to cut myself off from the world. I don’t want to alienate myself from humanity. I could have pushed myself out into his world, but I’ve spent all my time trying to be in touch with people, and he spends all his time hiding, cloaking and padding things around himself. It’s very evident when you see him work.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s very talented, but I think he’s killing himself. I was interested in working with that part of him. But there’s so many other things in the way right now. I’m an artist who likes to be honest and confront; he operates in a completely different way. We’re like oil and vinegar, oil and water. We just don’t mix.”
According to a 1992 interview with British journalist Jonathan Ross, Madonna said the song her and Michael were working on was called “In the Closet” and that she had worked on some lyrical ideas for the song but when she presented them to Michael, he decided they were too provocative and so they decided to go their own separate ways:
Whenever Madonna spoke about Michael, she appeared to be hinting that he would not come out of the closet, and that this cooled the friendship.
Michael would go on to record “In The Closet” with someone else and would later say that Madonna was not a nice person.
Sources:
The Advocate interview: http://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-interviews-articles/the-advocate-may-7-1991
Seattle Times interview: http://www.seattletimescompany.com/
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Was it planted? Considering he legally fought against having it used in court and fought against it being used in the media and it had his fingerprints and lots of the issues didn’t even have covers – what do you think? Of course if that had been gay pornography… would you believe it had been planted? Somehow I doubt it.
The pornography was from the 2003 raid by the way, not from 1993.
And to even use the 1993 allegations as a reason to believe he was gay… are you really a Michael fan? Do you even know what happened in 1993?
Michael was not gay, and i can confirm that(not from what we already know).
Btw at the end it’s not a big issue what he did in his private life,and it’s not our business
HI Suzy….I have worked for some wonderful and creative gay film executives….my best Boss was gay and he loved the sexuality of women….He felt a connection to the woman’s part in the sex act….this is one of the reasons gay film directors can create the strong romantic and sexy movies we have all watched……they can see both sides…….
Hi Polly….I did not see this question….I mean Michael Jackson, if he was gay, should have created a family with a man, just like Ricky Martin…..people living in secure relationships live longer….
hi
I do not know because I always speak evil of those who never did anything for the love of God did not exist most beautiful person inside and outside of it that Michael was king of music, dance was a wonderful person to speak ill of him is the same thing to talk about my family I’m not quiet!
just to say that I am Brazilian and I do not know speak English, but I am using a translator to help me.
I love you Michael forever!
Hi Duane! Thanks for your comment and don’t worry about your English, if you have something to say, please feel very welcome here. I disagree with you that this article speaks evil about MJ, or did you mean that Madonna was speaking badly about him?
I think this is right……Michael Jackson’s sexuality is not that important….but why a 22 million dollar pay off ?……..and let’s not be silly, that is too much money, even for MJ, for it to be just a “take some money and leave me alone”…thing………..What if ?…only the approved mainstream stories, made it to the media…a big story could then be the most secret story….Doctor Murray treated so good ?……..not a lot of people coming forward, to tell about Michael’s love life…gay or not ?………OK..how about this…Two sides, working against MJ, but a third gets in….give them 22 million to get out of the way…[not even under MJ's control]…tell them to never talk…what they have to say, is not a good thing for business………Now what if ?….. 2 people lost their lives, for getting in the way…..Chandler…Perez………it would make a great TV murder mystery…..just thinking out-loud…
Polly & Kathy. All this effort by you to “prove” MJ was gay. Actually there are more facts supporting the fact he was not, than the other way around. Have you seen the porn collection that was confiscated from Neverland in 2003? 70+ STRAIGHT porn magazines and videos. Pictures of naked WOMEN on the hard drives of his computers. That guy was so not gay.
Funny you say his bodyguards are lying and are paid. But in the same breath you take “testimonies” like the one from Scott Thorston granted – just because that supports your agenda. When he – unlike MJ’s bodyguards – WAS paid by National Enquirer to claim what he claimed.
And FYI, just like women can be paid to come forward and claim a relationship with MJ to protect his image, so can gay men be paid to come forward and claim a relationship with MJ to support some people’s gay agenda (I bet Ian Halperin – a gay man himself – will do that in his upcoming MJ documentary). In fact, gay stories sell better and have a higher price – especially about MJ.
Hi Suzy, i can only speak for myself and i can tell you that this is not an effort to prove MJ was gay. I haven’t seen the porn collection that was confiscated from Neverland in 1993, have you? or have you only heard about it? If it was really there, could it have been planted there by MJ’s people? Of course anyone can be paid to come forward and claim something, I myself am suspicious of Jason Pfeiffer’s ‘testimony’. I would like to point out to you the plain fact that MJ never had any public intimate relationship with anyone – hetero or gay. His marriage to Lisa Marie was hot on the heels of the Jordie Chandler case and did not last very long. His marriage to Debbie Rowe was purely business. This does not mean he was gay, but it certainly raises some questions. Ultimately, MJ’s sexuality is no-one’s business but his own, but when it’s used against him, that’s when it matters. For instance, there’s talk that ’93 was a set-up to destroy him – they planned to use his weakness for younger men in order to clean him up. They succeeded, even though the case went in a slightly different way as it was never meant to be about pedophilia. This site is about trying to uncover every detail, every possibility. We are not hell-bent on proving he was gay or straight. Rather, we are trying to get closer to the truth behind MJ, whatever that may be.
Um, yes… SMOKING GUN REPORT released pictures of the PORN MAGS MJ had and they showed those magazines in court to jurors in 2005. MJ had Hustler, Barely Legal (for hetero guys thank you!), Penthouse and a whole bunch of PORN that REAL GUYS look at. Now, trust if MJ was a homosexual, certainly he would have gotten his “private” kicks out of lusting and fantasizing over dudes. But, apparently MJs stash was just the opposite. We all KNOW what guys do with their Porn Collection, OK. So, let’s not go there and play dumb. If MJ was into dudes, that I am sure would have dominated his Private Collection. But, it did not. And, furthermore… MJ had Porn videos of REGULAR SEX not “gay sex.” He even had the documentary PIMPS UP HOES DOWN. I saw that video documentary and it is very disturbing and graphic of Pimping and Prostitution and I can tell you show so very shocking scenes of women “doing” all manner of lascivious “tricks” with there vaginas. OK. KNOW FACTS.
Wow!!! Good stuff and enuff said!!! I figured that IAN HALPERIN was a HOMOSEXUAL himself! Thanks for confirming what I was suspicious of anyway. This creep could NOT wait until MJ’s body turned cold last year without trying to smear MJ’s SEXUAL reputation. You don’t do that to somebody’s who just passed. I would have RESPECTED Halperin if he would have dropped that book while MJ was alive. As soon as they started cutting on MJ for the autopsy this creep drops his book that MJ was gay. Sick.
You know, while this piece was interesting, I’m wondering as to its validity. The manner in which she spoke really seemed kind of dishonest or catty. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but that’s the impression I got. Plus, wasn’t it well-known they were kind of in competition with one another as to who could be the strangest?
Plus, add to the fact that Michael himself stated he was not gay. In his song entitled Tabloid Junkie, he stated something about people saying he was homosexual. It doesn’t make a clear reference to him, but in the infamous Bashir documentary, which I’ve seen and despise, he himself stated he was not gay.
I don’t know. It could be a publicity stunt to throw people off his case or get him more attention, or she could really be telling the truth.
Hi Iris, Exactly! The only one who knows the truth is MJ himself. Given that no-one has come out of the woodwork to claim they had a relationship with MJ other than the dubious Jason Pfeiffer (i say dubious because he’s backed by Dr Arnold Klein), we really don’t know. You’d think that more people (male or female) would be coming out by now with their own stories, but not so. Could this be because MJ was asexual?
The Jackson family, was no more powerful than the fans….the fans/public, had the big leverage, that kept MJ in the “shoe Box”……MJ was not powerful, when it came to his family…[the isolation, shows fear]…..the family was a threat…..so hide from them !……this is seen with drug problems, abuse problems etc. ….I don’t think Christian teachings, had any part in the [just homophobic dogma] relationship…..Michael could only hide….
I mean family, MJ’s own….that would be part of his gay life…like Joe said “we hate gays”…so MJ was alone.
…and his mother, whom he was always so loyal to, always said that being gay was against their religion. She even said in an interview in the 80′s that MJ was not gay because it’s against their religion. Essentially, this did mean that MJ would have been totally alone if he indeed was gay and wanted to come out. In this light, it’s understandable why he would choose to remain hidden. If you don’t have the support of your family, then it’s very difficult to come out alone. Although – with all the money they received from his fame, you’d think that this was some form of leverage for him?
i really don’t understand u!
u say only mj knows the thruth, but in thruth u r talking like U ARE SURE HE WAS GAY!
Wtf?
U know what?? Mj had friends who were gay!….even Marc schaffel was his friend at one point (but he was fired from MJ because he didn’t know Schaffel was a gay porn film director/producer) and MJ clearly said that!
freddie Mercury who was gay was even a friend.
stop treat MJ’s life like it’s everyone besuness, because in thruth even if he was a star NOONE is intitled to judge his PRIVATE LIFE and parts(like sexuality) who were so private for him.
if he said he was not gay:STOP HE WAS NOT, and NO ONE is intitled to say the contrary.
If MJ had taken Madonna’s advice, He would be alive today…..being protected by a dedicated gay partner….from the “Shoe Box” to the “Pine Box”…..”Alone”…just to please the fans…
I read that MJ had a falling out with David Geffen, the well-known gay music exec and that in doing so, he fell out with the “gay mafia” and fell in with the straight mafia – DiLeo, Branca, Pellicano, etc.
When you say “being protected by a dedicated gay partner” – do you mean romantically or in a pure business sense?