The Dangerous Era

The year was 1992 and Michael Jackson the most famous person on the planet. British comedian Benny Hill, however, was buried in London's Royal Brompton Hospital after a heart attack eleven days earlier, his TV show had been cancelled and two months he passed away.

And in this unusual and singular situation, Michael Jackson was a fan.

This unlikely encounter took place exactly thirty years ago and was the subject of a podcast called 'When Michael Met Benny'. Written by Jonathan Morris, he explores what may have happened in that room.

"The idea of all this came when I saw fans on the internet saying 'did you know that Michael Jackson was a big benny hill fan and that they met, and Jackson visited Benny Hill in the hospital a few weeks before he died?'. That seemed like an incredibly unlikely situation," Morris told Euronews Culture.

"They were two very, very different people and still had a connection. Michael Jackson wasn't just a Benny Hill fan, he loved him. Benny was his favorite comedian. He collected all the videotapes, he was obsessed with him. So I just thought, there's a story there."

Benny and Jackson

"When the meeting happened, there were some other people in the room with them," Morris notes. "One of them was the TV producer, Dennis Kirkland, who wrote benny hill's biography. And he mentioned Benny Hill making a joke about offering Michael a Coke and Jackson refusing because he had a deal with Pepsi at the time.''

"There was also a genuine discussion about Jackson participating in benny hill's new show and Benny appearing in a Michael Jackson video. Jackson made a dance move and then Benny copied it. That's the kind of thing that, according to the producer, they really talked about."