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Michael Jackson wanted a room full of mannequins. He thought this would be good for his social life.
Michael Jackson had millions of adoring fans, but he admitted he didn’t have many close friends. Those who knew Jackson described him as painfully shy. He also said that because of his fame, he couldn’t tell who he could trust. Because of this, he said he wanted a room full of mannequins who would become his friends.
Michael Jackson said he wanted to make mannequins into his friends
As Jackson was decorating a new home in Beverly Hills, he said he wanted to dedicate a room to mannequins. He wanted to be able to view them as friends. He felt he had too few people he could trust.
“I guess I want to bring them to life. I like to imagine talking to them,” he told Rolling Stone in 1983. “You know what I think it is? Yeah, I think I’ll say it. I think I’m accompanying myself with friends I never had. I probably have two friends. And I just got them. Being an entertainer, you just can’t tell who is your friend. And they see you so differently. A star instead of a next-door neighbor.”
He said he wanted to have conversations with them.
“That’s what it is. I surround myself with people I want to be my friends,” he said. “And I can do that with manikins. I’ll talk to them.”
He added that he would name them, which he’d already done with statues he kept in his home. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch ultimately did have rooms full of mannequins.