While “Wacko Jacko” was often the name given to Michael Jackson thanks to his eccentricities, Matt Fiddes has often explained that that was his persona. As he said on “Anything Goes with James English,” “It takes, like, hours to become Michael Jackson. It’s all an act, right? You can probably work that one out. He’s not really Wacko Jacko, behind it all.” In another interview, with YouTuber Steven Sully, Fiddes doubled down on that. “He would make himself ridiculous to wind the media up,” he revealed. 

Granted, not every instance of Michael being perceived as quirky was intentional. Speaking to English, Fiddes explained that when it came to the singer’s kids wearing masks, that had been to keep them anonymous. Of course, that ended up backfiring to some degree, when the press offered a whopping £1 million payout to anyone who could snag a pic of their exposed faces. 

As for the bigger parenting scandal Michael was involved in — holding his infant son, formerly known as Blanket Jackson, over a balcony — Fiddes has shared that he was present when it happened. And, while he told Express that he thought the angle of the picture made the situation look more dangerous than it was, he added that the star was inconsolable over the poorly thought-out stint. “He knew he’d made a massive mistake and locked himself in his room for a day afterwards. He was devastated,” Fiddes recounted.