Stephen Davis, Moonwalk Ghostwriter, 1983-86

“Michael had this monkey called Bubbles. And they brought in Bubbles one day after lunch when my daughter was with me – she was seven at the time, her name is Lilly. And there weren’t many kids around at that time. This was in the Encino house, before he moved out to Neverland. And the monkey comes in and takes one look at Lilly, my little seven year old girl, and grabs her by the arm – and then starts dragging her out of the room. And Michael Jackson grabs Lily’s other arm. And he says to the monkey, “Hey Bubbles – Where you goin’ with my girlfriend?”

Meanwhile, I notice that the hand that is being held by the monkey is turning blue, because he’s got this vice grip on it. So I said, Mike, this is getting a little old here, I’m a little worried about the hand turning blue. So he kind of intervened, sort of kicked the monkey with his foot. But it’s that moment – where the monkey is pulling one way, and Michael is pulling the other, and Lilly looks up at me, and Michael goes, “Hey Bubbles – where you going with my girlfriend?” And my heart just went out to him, it was such a sweet thing to do.”