Matt Groening just ended a decades-long debate about whether or not Michael Jackson cameo-ed on the 1991 episode of The Simpsons, "Stark Raving Dad."
It was not an impersonator after all—it was really the King of Pop.
"We really did have Michael Jackson," Groening said on Wednesday while being interviewed for the Australian show "The Weekly."
Groening said that Jackson had called him late one night hoping to voice the show. At first, Groening hung up, thinking it was a prank call. "He has a voice that sounds like someone doing a Michael Jackson bit," Groening said. Jackson called back again saying, "No, it really is, don't hang up!"
"He did do the show. He didn't want credit for it, it was some kind of deal with his record company or whatever," Groening continued. In the credits, Jackson appears under the pseudonym John Jay Smith.
In the Season 3 episode, Homer is sent to a psychiatric institution where he befriends a patient named Leon Kompowsky who believes he is Michael Jackson. The episode ends with Kompowsky singing "Happy Birthday" to Lisa Simpson.
The dialogue was all Jackson but the singing was not Jackson's own. Groening revealed that they used a singing-impersonator so that they would not breach a contract with Jackson's record company.
"So, when it came time to sing the songs, he had a sound-alike singer," said Groening. "And [Jackson] stood there and watched the guy, and he was so nervous, who had to sound like Michael Jackson."
Jackson's uncredited cameo has been unconfirmed since the episode aired in 1991. One of the longest running fan theories in the sitcom's history has officially been solved.
The full interview can be viewed here.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
