Russell Crowe used to get prank calls from Michael Jackson

Russell Crowe used to get prank calls from Michael Jackson

Actor Russell Crowe revealed this week that he had regularly been prank called by Michael Jackson for a period of two or three years.

It’s no secret that the Michael Jackson became increasingly idiosyncratic in his later years. That much was proven once again this week, when actor Russell Crowe revealed that the King of Pop had regularly prank called him for a period of “two or three years.”

Indeed, according to a new interview with The Guardian, Crowe could simply not escape Jackson’s irritating phone calls or bad jokes for a significant span of time.

The interview was done as part of the publicity tour for Crowe’s new film (and directorial debut), The Water Diviner. The 50-year-old actor and Oscar-winner opened up about a variety of topics, from his past issues with the press and paparazzi, to the kidnapping threats he received from al-Quada back in 2001.

Perhaps the most headline-worthy part of the interview, though, was the revelation that Crowe had been randomly and incessantly prank called by the late Michael Jackson. Even weirder, Crowe maintains that the two never actually had a face-to-face encounter.

“I never met him, never shook his hand, but he found out the name I stayed in hotels under,” Crowe explained. “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?”

Crowe still doesn’t seem to find the prank calls very funny, even six years after Jackson’s death. Still, his story meshes with what the King of Pop might have found appealing or amusing in his later years.

After all, Jackson made a concentrated effort to stay young forever, dubbing his estate Neverland Ranch and trying to live his life like Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. And what could be more fitting for a man who never grew up than relentlessly prank calling another celebrity?

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail