Chris Tucker once had a private jet turn around and fly back to New York after landing in LA because Michael Jackson wanted to meet up with him

© Tim P. Whitby, Michael Le brecht/Getty Images Michael Jackson at a press conference in 2009 (left) and Chris Tucker on Good Morning America in March 2023 (right). Tim P. Whitby, Michael Le brecht/Getty Images

Chris Tucker says he once had a private jet turn around and fly right back to New York after landing in Los Angeles because Michael Jackon wanted to meet up with him, according to GQ.

The star comedian and actor told GQ that the “Rush Hour” franchise helped skyrocket him to fame, and even gave him an opportunity he couldn’t pass up: the chance to meet music legend Michael Jackson. 

“I was in New York for two days waiting to meet MJ,” Tucker recalled to GQ. “I took a private jet there. I said, well, I ain’t heard from him, I got to go. Took a private jet back to LA and as soon as I landed, I had a message: ‘Michael Jackson wants to meet you tomorrow morning.’ I was still on the plane. I went up to the captain and said, ‘I’ll pay you whatever you want to take me back to New York.'”

Tucker told GQ that he and Jackson later became close friends, and Jackson encouraged him to take on more work in Hollywood. 

“He used to always say, ‘Let’s make history,'” Tucker told GQ. “‘We want to see more of you, Chris! What are you doing?'”

But despite Jackson’s advice, Tucker told GQ that ever since “Rush Hour” — which came out in 1998 — he’s only wanted to work on film roles that truly inspire him. 

Tucker is now starring in ‘Air,’ a film produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon that chronicles basketball star Michael Jordan’s influence on Nike in the 1980s.