Freddie Gibbs and Michael Jackson might not have had much in common musically, but the two both came from the city of Gary, Indiana. Years ago, Gibbs told the story of the one time that he ever saw Jackson in person, and Pitchfork turned it into an animated video for its Frames series. To hear Gibbs tell it, Jackson didn't come back to Gary to sing -- "Gary ain’t got enough money for Mike to sing a note on the mic" -- but to make a speech at a baseball stadium. When he was there, according to Gibbs, Jackson went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru and bought all the chicken that they had. Then, he took it to the baseball stadium and handed out chicken to all the kids.
I'm not doing it justice. Freddie Gibbs can tell a story. There are so many good details in there -- the Cap'n Crunch suit, the gloved hand waving out of the limo sunroof, the hardened killers breaking down in tears at the sight of MJ. You might as well just hear it for yourself below.
Pitchfork posted that video 12 years ago, and I didn't remember it, but Freddie Gibbs did. On Twitter this week, Gibbs posted two photos -- one of a KFC box that Michael Jackson signed, another with Jackson in a limo with a bunch of kids -- with the caption "Y’all thought I was lying."
Y’all thought I was lying. #MikeAintDead pic.twitter.com/HRGg7bMfRB
— Big 🐰 (@FreddieGibbs) May 13, 2025
Technically, those photos don't prove anything. We don't know when or where they were taken. But why ruin a great story? I will happily accept this as proof. Our own Scott Lapatine looked into it, and this would've probably been 2003, when Michael Jackson returned to Gary to accept the key to the city and to appear at a Salute To The Troops event at a local baseball stadium.
There is also documented proof of MJ loving KFC.
Michael Jackson's airline meal preferences pic.twitter.com/x10JIVFJSe
— Quote (@Quote31490249) November 22, 2024
That's good enough for me. Freddie Gibbs only speaks the truth.
