Aurora Starchild
The name Michael Jackson brings up endless images and memories of cult classic music videos, concerts, and public appearances. He was a legend above all legends, a superstar so luminous that what we are about to tell you probably will not be believed. But as it turns out, Michael Jackson loved to prank call people, and Russell Crowe has a simultaneously hilarious and creepy story about it.
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Russell Crowe Was Serially Prank Called by Michael Jackson
While on the Graham Norton Show, actor Russell Crowe was once asked about the prank calls from Michael Jackson. Crowe seemed perplexed and amused while telling the story.
“He just got into the habit of um, wherever I was staying, he’d just call the hotel and ask for my room and put on funny voices,” Crowe said. “I’d never met him,” he continued. “And the thing is, the first couple people that I said it to, I was like… I didn’t want to sound like I was insane, right. Like, ‘Hey, Michael, you know, prank called me today.’ But when I actually started talking to people who really knew him well, they’d go, ‘Man, he does it all the time.’”
When asked about the details of Michael Jackson’s pranks, Crowe said that he’d always use a gruff voice and pretend to be part of hotel management. Jackson would then pretend that there was “some kind of problem.”
“Then if I got kind of irritated, he’d go, ‘oh ho ho, hehehehehe, don’t worry, Russ, it’s only Michael.’” Crowe was using a very high-pitched, leprechaunish voice for this Michael Jackson impression.
Crowe and Jackson Never Even Met in Person
In an interview with The Guardian, Russell Crowe expanded on Michael Jackson’s prank calling.
“For two or three f***ing years,” he said of the calls. “I never met him, never shook his hand, but he found out the name I stayed in hotels under, so it didn’t matter where I was, he’d ring up do this kind of thing, like you did when you were 10, you know. ‘Is Mr Wall there? Is Mrs Wall there? Are there any Walls there? Then what’s holding the roof up? Ha ha.’ You’re supposed to grow out of doing that, right?”
Despite all this, Crowe did admit on the Graham Norton Show that this was a favorite pastime of his when he was about 11 and 12.
“I used to pretend I was a radio announcer and like, give people prizes. On the phone. Trips to Fiji and all this other stuff. They would get so excited, you know. And then I would just hang up and go, ‘Well, that was a good job well done. I made that person’s day.
Karma, anybody?
It gets better, though. While Russell Crowe’s story about the prank calls is pretty funny at the very least due to Michael Jackson’s persistence, he wasn’t the only one to get pranked. Lou Ferrigno Sr. of The Incredible Hulk also used to receive prank calls from the megastar.
According to Express UK, Lou Ferrigno Jr. said that Michael Jackson would call his father, who he described is “85 percent deaf”.
“He would call my dad and be like: ‘Hey I’m looking for Omar,’” said Ferrigno Jr. “And my dad would be: ‘Huh? Who’s this?’ ‘I’m looking for Omar.’ And my dad isn’t great on the phone so it would end in him yelling: ‘Who’s Omar!?’ We were trying to figure out who Omar was and [then] we’d figure out it was Michael.”
Ferrigno Jr. added that it was “surreal” to be reminded that Michael Jackson was just another “nice and normal” person.
“It’s surreal to be put in that situation and be reminded the whole gaudiness of celebrity is just man-made,” he said.
Michael Jackson Was Prank Called By Notorious Jokester Ralphige
Michael Jackson himself has also been the target of prank callers. In 2007, just two years before the King of Pop passed away, notorious prankster Ralphige made a call to him. He posted the recording on YouTube. Two years later, Michael Jackson’s estate tried to force him to take the recording down via a cease-and-desist letter.
TMZ reported on the legal action, quoting Ralphige as saying, “I am afraid the estate is not aware Michael personally gave me permission to release the phone call. This is something that I am sure will be discussed in the near future.”
In the prank call, Ralphige pretended to be Akon. He then proceeded to bring up child molestation while on the phone with Michael Jackson. The estate later tried to say that Ralphige wasn’t actually talking to the real MJ. But you can decide that for yourself.
Honestly, it seems as though it must have been the real MJ. Because during the call, “MJ” was discerning and disbelieving of Ralphige being Akon. He immediately asked about his voice sounding different. This makes sense for someone who also makes prank calls.
MJ Graciously Gave Permission to Ralphige to Use Recording of the Call
Ralphige held up to a pretty severe inquisition about the whole ordeal while speaking with the MJJ fan club. During that conversation, the prankster claimed that after the first call, he called back. The second time, he was immediately talking to a bodyguard. He promised the bodyguard that he wouldn’t record the conversation if he could just be let back on the phone with Jackson. He was then connected again. Ralphige claims that the two proceeded to speak for another 10 minutes.
“He told me that what I said was mean but that the damage was done and he had no control over it from that point forward,” said Ralphige. “I asked him if I could release the phone call and he said, ‘you can do whatever you want.’”
Ralphige added that he had a lot of respect for Michael Jackson and was a big fan of his. He also pointed out that he’s made worse calls to other celebrities. That includes Suge Knight (who was accused of being involved in 2pac’s murder).
