Chapter 7
Wacko Jacko
Now that he was so rich, Michael could do almost anything he wanted. No one dared to tell him no—at least not his family or friends. Sometimes Branca did warn Michael not to do things. But even then, Michael just went ahead and followed his own heart.
A lot of the things Michael wanted to do seemed totally crazy.
In 1986, Michael visited a hospital and saw a glass box—like a clear coffin. It was called a hyperbaric chamber. It was for sick people who needed extra oxygen. Michael got inside the box and had his picture taken. Then he had the picture sent to newspapers. He said he slept in there every night, so he could live to be 150 years old.
The story wasn’t true. Michael was just kidding around. He had read a book by P. T. Barnum, a famous circus owner. Barnum wrote that there was no such thing as bad publicity. Michael thought that was true.
Next, Michael created another weird story. He let people think that he wanted to buy the Elephant Man’s bones. The Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, was a real person who lived in England in the 1800s. He was part of a circus sideshow. The circus put him on display because his face and hands were very deformed.
When the newspapers heard about this, they thought Michael Jackson had lost his mind. One newspaper called him “Wacko Jacko.” The nickname stuck.
In 1988, Michael got a pet chimp named Bubbles. He told people he slept with the chimp. He took Bubbles to dinner with him.
Michael was rich and famous. Yet he seemed no happier than when he was younger. He still hated his looks. He kept having surgery on his face. Finally, he had so many that the tip of his nose was almost gone!
Michael had surgery to put a dimple in his chin. He started wearing a surgical mask over his face afterward to cover the scars until his chin healed. But some people thought Michael was just crazy and afraid of germs.
Michael looked very strange in some pictures. Newspapers kept calling him Wacko Jacko. It hurt his feelings. But he had tried to get attention in the wrong way. Now he regretted it—and wanted to get as far away from the public as he could.
In 1988, he found a good place to hide. He bought Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara County, California. It was nearly three thousand acres—much larger than most big city parks.
Neverland was like a dream come true for Michael. It was his private amusement park! It had a Ferris wheel, a small train, bumper cars, a pirate-ship ride, a roller coaster, a petting zoo, and much more. There were statues of children everywhere. Wild animals roamed around. A huge outdoor clock, as big as a building, was surrounded by the word Neverland spelled out in flowers. Of course there was a swimming pool, a movie theater, and a giant collection of video games. Michael also built a huge house for himself, and smaller guesthouses.
Michael had never had a real childhood—he had worked since he was five years old. At Neverland, he could play all day. It was perfect—except for one thing. Who could he enjoy it with?
Michael still loved his family, but he didn’t want to live with them anymore. He felt his family asked him for things too often. They wanted him to tour with the The Jacksons again. Michael didn’t want to do that.
So Michael moved into Neverland all by himself. It was a very private place, with a huge gate around it. Most of the time, Michael Jackson was very much alone.
