Jaafar Jackson has spent the last few years becoming Michael Jackson. He trained for three years to play his uncle in the biopic Michael, which has since made over a billion dollars. So when interviewers ask him about Michael, they expect him to talk about the performer.
He keeps talking about the uncle instead.
Speaking to GQ Middle East, Jaafar described the Michael he actually knew growing up — and it had almost nothing to do with the stage. He called him a “prankster.” A “jokester.” The relative who turned every family gathering into a game.
Jaafar Jackson: Childhood Memories With His Uncle Michael
The memories are wonderfully ordinary. Family game days at the Jackson house in Hayvenhurst, California. Trips to Neverland Ranch, where the children had the run of the place — the rides, the films, and hide-and-seek across the grounds. Jaafar remembers eating, in his words, “as much candy” as he could get away with.
His whole summary of those years is three words long. “It was all fun.”
That matters because it reveals the man behind the headlines. The world saw a performer who controlled every step, every light, every camera angle. His family saw somebody who, given a house full of nieces and nephews, would rather play than be admired.
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It fits everything else people close to him say. His collaborators describe him throwing popcorn at a duet partner in the studio to make her mess up her takes. He carried stink bombs and water balloons as standard, and set them off on the last day of video shoots. His playfulness in music wasn’t an act.
And one final memory Jaafar has shared gives all of this its weight. The last time he saw his uncle was at a family dinner in 2009. When it was time to leave, Michael said goodbye with five words: “See you in July.”
He died two months later.
Jaafar was twelve. He remembers the fun.