The world’s most memorable glimpse of the baby known as Blanket Jackson was bizarre by any standards, his father’s storied quirks aside.
On Nov. 19, 2002, Michael Jackson carried his then-9-month-old son, born Prince Michael Jackson II, to the balcony of their suite at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin and proceeded to hold him over the railing to show him off to his cheering fans. A horde of photographers angled for a glimpse at the pop icon’s third child, but a towel was shielding his face.
Michael may have proudly envisioned a Lion King moment, and ironically he was in Germany to accept an award honoring his lifelong commitment to helping children, but the incident prompted outraged headlines the world over and even inspired a tragic plot point in a 2003 Law & Order episode.
“I offer no excuses for what happened,” he said in a statement as the concern over his fitness as a father reached fever pitch in the span of 24 hours. “I got caught up in the excitement of the moment. I would never intentionally endanger the lives of my children.
The curiosities had only just begun, however, when it came to his parenting style and it was really only after he died in 2009 that glimpses of him as a so-called normal dad started to emerge, thanks to loving memories shared by his two eldest children, Prince Jackson (born Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.) and Paris Jackson (born Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson).
Jackson’s youngest, that little baby who was so memorably introduced to the world, is now 22. A few years ago he ditched the nickname “Blanket” and started going by Bigi. He loved movies, was “really into comics and the comic book world,” a source told E! News as his high school graduation approached, and he was living that teenage-boy life, astounding familial history aside.
He was “especially tight” with older brother Prince, though all three siblings are close, the
