It’s extremely difficult for a victim to open up about past abuse. Not only are they sharing feelings they may have been holding back, but they’re telling other survivors that it’s okay to profess their own experiences if they feel comfortable in doing so. In Leaving Neverland, HBO’s documentary (which came out in March 2019 in two parts) about two men who allege that Michael Jackson abused them as young boys, it might be hard for people to realize that one of our world’s most talented musicians likely had a very dark and disturbing side.
When you’ve got the entourage like Jackson, you more or less have the world at your hands.
And that’s one of the things that drew people to him. The mothers of both boys who came forward in the documentary made it seem like aside from fame and fortune, Michael Jackson was much like a child to them. For decades, people used those same words to describe him. And for decades, people assumed that “child at heart” may have been a positive attribute, and not something that’d possibly turn predatory.
But, it’s interesting to see if those childish attributes may have also been relevant in the types of food he ate.
As you know, your palate grows with you. So, were there any red flags in his choices that may have indicated a big problem? Let’s start from the beginning.
1. At one point, Michael Jackson was a vegetarian.
Like many celebrities, Jackson tried a vegetarian diet early in his career. Back in 1988, Jackson was reportedly quoted as saying, “I’m a vegetarian now and I’m so much thinner. I’ve been on a strict diet for years. I feel better than I ever have, healthier and more energetic.”
2. But his personal chef said he avoided vegetables.
Mani Niall, one of his former personal chefs, said that his vegetarian diet rarely included vegetables. Other reports state that he ate them in order to be healthy, so it’s possible that they just weren’t on his list of favorites.
3. He also likely avoided birthday cake.
Why? Because, during the time Niall toured with him, he didn’t celebrate his birthday. He was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and was active with them for many years until disassociating with the group in 1987. So, before that point, he didn’t recognize his day of birth.
4. Sometimes, Jackson didn’t eat at all.
It could have been due to his busy schedule, but Niall said it wasn’t uncommon for Jackson to end up skipping meals. Sometimes, making sure he ate ended up being a struggle. He “was the type of person who could just go, go, go for hours without eating, and then be famished,” Niall said, according to Food Envy.
5. Niall tried to sneak vegetables onto his pizza.
It’s a bit disturbing to hear of the methods that his chef tried in order to get him to eat healthier, but it seemed to work. One of Jackson’s favorite foods around the Thriller period was pizza topped with shiitake mushrooms and Japanese eggplant.
6. Jackson also enjoyed “Ookies.”
Another strange food choice for Jackson were “ookies,” which were cookies made with pecans and sweetened with maple syrup. It seemed to be a healthier version than a standard cookie that used sugar. The pecan cookie was likely a hit, as he reportedly didn’t care for chocolate.
7. Surprisingly, Jackson didn’t like pasta.
Most vegetarians have to face pasta dishes on special occasions, but Jackson wasn’t a fan. This seems to be a huge surprise when you look at Jackson’s overall diet. Typically, picky eaters are okay with pasta, especially since it comes in so many varieties.
8. But he did eat some Mexican food. Maybe.
A few sources cite the fact that Jackson was into Mexican food, but typically the one dish that constantly comes up is spicy smoked red chile enchiladas. While the page has since been deleted, Tres Hombres Cantina had written up their account of meeting Jackson in the ’80s, stating that they made finger foods like shrimp tortas for him and his crew while Thriller was shooting.
9. He liked turkey burgers and Chinese food
Instead of beef patties, Jackson opted for turkey burgers, instead. He also liked Chinese food. “He ate turkey burgers, Chinese food, a lot of vegetables. He always tried to eat healthy stuff. … He tried to stay away from red meat,” Kevin McLin, family friend and former publicist, says.
10. He was a picky eater, and also a specific one…
According to FoodEnvy.tv, Jackson liked grilled tofu sushi kebabs with couscous and Moroccan sauce.
11. At home, he made sweet potato pie.
Paris Jackson, his daughter, has credited her father for being great in the kitchen. One of his specialty dishes was a sweet potato pie, which he later taught her how to make.
12. Eventually, he gave up vegetarianism for KFC.
A lot of pop stars have that one junk food craving, and for Michael Jackson, it was reportedly KFC. Multiple sources have confirmed that he often had buckets all over his home. His friend David Gest, who supported him during his trial and made a film about him prior to Leaving Neverland, said that he had enjoyed fried chicken since childhood. “I remember he’d sit in his car, take off the skin and say, ‘David, now I’ve made it organic. I can eat it.’ I’d laugh in his face and tell him it was still Colonel Sanders,” Gest said to IOL. “That is the Michael I miss.”
13. Near the end, he was all about trail mix.
Jackson nutritionist, Cherilyn Lee, said in July of 2009 that the singer was really into trail mix as a way to get some energy. Otherwise, his diet was dangerously more liquid-based. “He loved trail mix,” she said to E! News. “And once a month he had to have fried chicken.”
14. He preferred caffeinated drinks, as well.
Even though his staff confirmed he did eat food, it was more about juice and caffeine, which could lead to a lot of health problems. “His whole thing was that he didn’t really want to eat food,” Lee stated in her E! News interview.
15. Before his death, a concert promoter said he hired someone to make him eat
ABCNews reported that concert promoter Randy Phillips said that Jackson needed help with cutting up pieces of chicken breast and remembering when it was meal time. “In the last week, I brought in someone whose sole purpose was to remind him to eat,” he said.
16. But Jackson still made family dinners a priority.
Even though Jackson wasn’t eating all that much, he still made time to sit down with his kids for a meal together. “They had structure,” Lee also noted to E! “They sat down and had dinner together at night. Even though he’d say a lot of times, ‘I’m not hungry,’ this is what he wanted to do. He was a prime example of a very good father.”
17. It was obvious to those near him that he was sick.
Rumors of an eating disorder were nothing new. Jackson was very frail at the time of his death, and many felt as if his aversion to eating may have been mental. His relationship to food, much like many other things about Jackson, was complicated and shocking.
If you or someone you love have experienced or are currently experiencing sexual abuse, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org. You are not alone.
