Everything
Zac Efron and Michael Jackson cry after a chat
Zac Efron told The Graham Norton Show how he reacted after was his telephone conversation with his idol, Michael Jackson. “I was having dinner in Paris during the promotion of High School Musical 3 with the choreographer of the film, Kenny Ortega (who also regularly worked with Jackson on his Dangerous World Tour and HIStory World Tour). His phone rang and on the other side was Michael.” Ortega, knowing that Efron was a devoted admirer of Jackson, handed him the phone. “I’m Zac Efron and you’re my hero,” he said to which Jackson replied: “That’s very nice, can you return the phone to Kenny?” He did so. But soon after, Ortega’s phone rang again and he said to Efron: “It’s Michael Jackson.” According to Efron, Jackson then said: “Are you Zac, from High School Musical ? I love what you do.” Efron then goes on to say, ” I started crying and asked if he knew who I was. I fell to the floor. I told him how much I loved him, that he was my hero and the reason I do what I do, and that he had taught me to dance and to believe in myself… and that made him cry, too. We both cried together on the phone.
The richest man and America’s sweetheart
On Watch What Happens Live, actress Brooke Shields said that after meeting Donald Trump at a charity event in 1991, he telephoned her while she was shooting a movie. “He called me right after he divorced [his second wife, Marla Maples] and said: ‘I think you and I should go out together because you’re America’s sweetheart, I’m the richest man in the United States and people would love it.”
Iker and Xavi, the call that saved the European Championship
A disagreement in the Spanish Super Cup between Real Madrid and Barcelona during the summer of 2011 led to a phone call from Iker Casillas to Xavi Hernández. The Spanish national team would soon meet for the Eruo 2012 qualifiers, and something had to be done to patch up the relationship between the two teams and their players During the call, Casillas apologised for everything that went on, and asked that they put everything behind them for the benefit of their country. Xavi accepted and they both instructed their colleagues to make peace with their rivals.
Madonna, Junior Vasquez and the answering machine
Calls between influential figures in the world of entertainment rarely end up inspiring a song that peaks at number two on the United States Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. However, it was the case in one situation. The friendship between DJ Junior Vasquez and singer Madonna lasted for years. But some disagreement that was never clarified by either of the two led to a message that she left on his answering machine (“Hello Junior, this is Madonna, are you there? Call me”) was turned by him into a song, If Madonna Calls. After its release, it’s said that the pair never spoke again, although the DJ has played at several parties where Madonna was present.
Nobody jokes with Russell Crowe (except Michael)
Russell Crowe never met Michael Jackson, but Crowe evealed that the Thriller singer used to call the hotels where he was staying, asking about his room and playing jokes by putting on different voices. “When I started telling people who knew him, they said, ‘He does it all the time!’ Crowe explained that Jackson used to pretend to be the manager of the hotel and explain that there was some kind of problem with his room and, when Crowe got angry, he would clarify: “It is a joke, it’s Michael!”
Taylor and Kanye, the famous call
In April 2016, Kanye West released Famous, a song that contained the following sentence: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous”. Taylor Swift commented shortly after she found out and revealed that West had never consulted her about it. West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, said in an interview to the British edition of GQ that her husband had called Swift to consult her about the lyrics and that, therefore, the singer was lying. To prove it, a recording of the call was uploaded to West’s Snapchat account. “I want things that make you feel good. I don’t want to do rap that makes people feel bad,” he told her. In response, Swift replies: “I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.”
Bill Clinton, the funny guy, and Tony Blair, the professional
In 2016 the Presidential Library of Bill Clinton are pages of telephone conversations that the former president of the United States had with the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2000. In them, Clinton is revealed as a funny guy and Blair as a formal minister who wants to return the conversation to strictly political channels. On one occasion, after a visit by then US Vice President Al Gore to England in which he was surprised to see a bowl with bananas in the office of then deputy prime minister John Prescott, Clinton told Blair: “My staff won’t let me talk to you unless I have a banana at hand. I’m sitting here with a banana; it’s a big, ugly, brownish one.” In another conversation that came to light.
Joan Crawford’s call that angered Bette Davis
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was legendary. But in the 2017 series Feud, Ryan Murphy turned it into one of the best fictions of the year. One episode (perhaps the best of the series) focused on Crawford’s revenge against Davis for not being nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for the film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) in which they co-starred. Crawford telephoned all the Best Actress nominees (Katharine Hepburn, Lee Remick, Geraldine Page and Anne Bancroft, who happened to be living on the East Coast and could not attend the gala) to offer to pick up the Oscar in her name. All agreed. When Bancroft won, Davis watched on as Crawford went up for the statuette. History of Hollywood.
Alec Baldwin’s call to daughter Ireland
In 2007, actor Alec Baldwin’s scalding message that he left on an answering machine for his daughter went viral worldwide. In the recording, Baldwin who was then in a custody battle with now ex-wife Kim Basinger can be heard calling his daughter “a rude, thoughtless pig” and her mother “a pain in the ass”. The actor asked for forgiveness and the relationship with his daughter is healthy one today (the two in the picture), but in 2009 Baldwin confessed in an interview that he contemplated suicide after the scandal that broke out when the recording was made public.
The prince and the pop star
In the autumn of 2016 Prince Harry announced during an event that the Invictus Games, the sports competition he created for wounded or disabled veteran soldiers, will be held in 2018 in Australia. During the annoucement, the prince’s mobile phone rang with the tone Kylie Minogue’s hit song I Should Be So Lucky. And on the other end of the line Minogue was there to announce that she would be there as one of the great cultural ambassadors of her country. It may have been a scripted call instead of a spontaneous one, but it was still amusing (and supported a good cause).
