Brooke Shields told Michael Jackson he was 'pathetic' after he claimed she was his girlfriend

Brooke Shields told Michael Jackson he was "pathetic" after he claimed she was his girlfriend.

The Pretty Baby actress befriended the late singer when she was 13 and he was 20, but she was less than impressed when he gave a live interview to Oprah Winfrey in 1993 and told her their relationship was romantic, despite the fact she was dating actor Dean Cain at the time.

Brooke, now 57, recalled to the Sunday Times magazine: "I called him up and I think I said, 'This is kind of pathetic that you need to do this. I am having a shot at normal life - you cannot drag me into crazy town'."

In response, she said the Thriller hitmaker - who died in 2009 from an accidental overdose - laughed off her outrage.

Brooke insisted they had never even gone on a date and she stopped any attempts to move their relationship beyond friendship.

Asked if they ever went on a date or kissed, she said: "No! There was one moment when we were in the car and the cameras were there and he grabbed me to kiss me, and I said, 'No! Stop! We are just friends and you need me as a friend.'

"I remember the early days when other actresses were after him and he was kind of cute, before the shift. But it never ever crossed my mind."

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But the pair regularly walked the red carpet together at major Hollywood events.

Brooke said: "He was so famous and I was so famous, and we could laugh at everybody, like little kids."

Between 1993 and 2005, Michael faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse but was ultimately acquitted of 10 charges.

The Blue Lagoon actress - who has children Rowan, 19, and Grier, 18, with husband Chris Henchy - admitted she still doesn't know "how to think about" the allegations because "it's so hard to believe".

She added: "I wish I knew the truth. Then I could figure out how to structure the narrative in my head. But I'm as shocked as I think the world is."