Newly-released interview recordings are said to reveal that Michael Jackson described his fellow pop megastar and rival Prince as "mean and nasty" and that he predicted his premature death.
In the tapes, which have been obtained by The Mirror newspaper, Jackson, who died in 2009, reportedly says that Prince had been “mean and nasty” to his family.
“He was so rude, one of rudest people I have ever met," Jackson says in the recordings, according to The Mirror. "Prince is very competitive. He has been very mean and nasty to my family.” he added.
Jackson and Prince, who died last April, were often compared during their heyday in 1980s and were rumoured to have had an unspoken secret feud.
Prince, who was found dead in his Paisley Park home last April
The tapes were recorded for Jackson’s autobiography Moonwalker in 1988 and The Mirror also claims that Jackson railed against the comparisons between the two stars.
“I don’t like to be compared to Prince at all. I have proven myself since I was real little. It’s not fair,” he said.
“He feels like I’m his opponent. I hope he changes because boy, he’s gonna get hurt. He’s the type that might commit suicide or something.”
Jackson died at the age of 50 after going into cardiac arrest following an overdose of sedatives in 2009.
A Prince mural in Dublin
In the recordings, Jackson also mocks Prince for falling into the crowd after mistaking a papier mâché stage lamppost for a real one at a James Brown tribute show in 1983 in Los Angeles.
“He made a fool of himself. He was a joke. People were running and screaming. I was so embarrassed. It was all on video.“
