Brooke Shields' life – Michael Jackson dating rumours, famous ex, steamy co-star moment

A new documentary about the life and career of Hollywood icon Brooke Shields has launched on streaming service Disney+ today (April 3).

In Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the actress and model opens up about her career and life in the limelight during the two-part documentary.

It also explores issues she encountered in the industry, including being sexualised from a young age in her early film roles, as well as finding her own confidence later in life – with commentary from Brooke and other stars from Hollywood.

READ MORE: Brooke Shields’ husband ‘smashed trophies’ after she licked Friends star Matt LeBlanc

As the new documentary launches on Disney+, Daily Star has taken a closer look inside Brooke Shields’ action-packed life.

Modelling fame

Long before Brooke became a Hollywood icon, the brunette beauty began her career as a child model at the age of 11 months old.

She appeared in advertisements for Ivory Soap before working with modelling agent Eileen Ford.

From there, Brooke became the youngest fashion model ever to appear on the cover of Vogue in America and Italy.

However in 1980, Brooke caused a stir when she appeared in an advertisement for Calvin Klein Jeans.

The advert saw 15-year old Brooke say the famous tagline, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing,” which caused controversy following its release.

It was subsequently banned from air in some countries, due to the assumed implication that Brooke was not wearing underwear beneath her jeans.

Brooke has since reflected on the ad during an interview with Vogue and described the backlash as “ridiculous.”

“I was away when they all came out, and then started hearing, “Oh, the commercials have been banned here, and Canada won’t play them.’ And [there were] paparazzi and people screaming at me, and screaming at my mother, “How could you?” It just struck me as so ridiculous, the whole thing,” said Brooke.

She added: “If they had intended on the double entendre, they didn’t explain it to me. It didn’t faze me. It didn’t sort of come into my psyche as it being anything overtly sexual, sexualized in any way.”

Brooke also recalled how the ad changed her life, saying: “The campaign was extremely successful.”

She continued: “It put Calvin on the map in a very different way. He said, ‘You changed the course of my life and my career.’ And I said, “You did mine too.”

Hollywood icon

Alongside with modelling, Brooke launched a Hollywood career in films including The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love in the mid seventies to early eighties.

That’s not all, as she became the youngest ever star to appear on The Muppet Show in 1980, before making a cameo in the 1984 film Muppets Take Manhatten.

From there she has not left our screens, appearing in films and TV shows including Friends, Hannah Montana: The Movie and Quantum Leap.

She also appeared in Suddenly Susan, Nip/Tuck, Lipstick Jungle, Army Wives, Jane the Virgin and most recently, Would I Lie To You?

Brooke has shared her musical theatre talents with audiences on Broadway too after taking on roles including Rizzo in Grease, Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family.

Away from modelling and acting, Brooke launched a podcast called Now What? in 2022, which focuses on how people respond to adversity.

Michael Jackson friendship

When Brooke was 13 years old, she met musician Michael Jackson and the two became close friends.

The actress also delivered a eulogy at the singer’s funeral in 2009, with the star heard talking about their lives as child stars and how this formed their bond.

“We had a bond,” she could be heard saying at his funeral.

“Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids having fun.”

However in the new Netflix documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the actress has opened up about their friendship – including the claims that she and Michael dated.

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, Michael had claimed that he and Brooke were dating, which left the actress confused as she was dating Lois & Clark star Dean Cain at the time.

After Michael’s interview with Oprah, Brooke recalled that she contacted the singer, telling The Sunday Times: “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 a normal life – you cannot drag me into a crazy town’.”

She added that there was never a passionate moment between the two stars and that they just “hung out”, saying: “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.”

Tennis icon ex

Brooke was previously married to tennis icon Andre Agassi.

Andre is known is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, former number one player in the world, and an Olympic gold medalist, playing professional tennis between 1986 to 2006.

His and Brooke’s romance blossomed after meeting in 1993, with the former couple sharing faxes to one another and bonding over their shared experience of having been child stars.

They later married in 1997, but did not welcome any children together.

However, the actress revealed that her 1996 appearance on Friends led to an incident that angered Andre.

Brooke played Erika, a super fan of Matt LeBlanc’s character Joey in the US sitcom, which included a scene where she had to lick Joey’s hand.

The actress revealed in her 2014 memoir, There Was a Little Girl, that Andre was angered by the scene, saying: “He said I made him look like a fool by licking Joey’s fingers and he got in his car and drove all the way to Vegas. Once there, he smashed all of his tennis trophies, destroying them in a rage.”

She has also referenced the incident during a recent interview with The New Yorker, adding: “Andre was in the audience supporting me and he stormed out.

“He said, ‘Everybody’s making fun of me. You made a fool of me by that behavior.’ I’m like, ‘It’s comedy! What is the matter with you?'”

However, the scene landed Brooke a leading role in the sitcom Suddenly Susan between 1996 to 2000, with the actress adding: “All of a sudden, the energy changed, and all these men in suits started coming into the studio. The next day, I was asked if I wanted to do my own television show.”

Brooke has since revealed that Andre opened up to her about his previous drug addiction to Meth during their relationship, which the tennis star also revealed in his own memoir called Open.

People Magazine reported that Brooke wrote in her own memoir, There Was a Little Girl: “He explained to me that for the first whole part of our relationship, he had been addicted to crystal meth.”

She added: “I was so unbelievably clueless. To this day, I think to myself ‘My God, Brooke. All you’ve seen in your life and you couldn’t pick this up?”

Brooke suggested to Andre that they try couples counselling, but she and Andre divorced in 1999, with a joint statement issued shortly after saying they continued to have “the utmost love and respect for one another.”

Despite the drama in their relationship, Brooke opened up to People Magazine interview and said: “He is a devoted person, sweet and good but he had this demon, this affliction.

“But the other side, and what makes this so hard, is the way he welcomed me and my mother and anybody I loved. He is a really good human being.”

Famous husband

The brunette beauty has since married writer Chris Henchy, who has penned films alongside Will Ferrell including Land of the Lost and The Other Guys.

Brooke and Chris met through mutual friends in 1999 and married two years later in 2001.

The couple have a very sweet relationship, with an inside source close to the pair telling Closer Magazine: “[She] is very un-Hollywood. [Brooke] and Chris have a great relationship.

“Their kids come first and they do all the things normal families do.”

The famous pair have since welcomed two daughters called Rowan and Grier, with Brooke has gushing about her children on Instagram.

She shared a sweet snap of her daughters when they were younger alongside her, saying: “Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them. What an honour and a privilege it is to raise daughters. R&G – your strength inspires me every single day. Happy #internationalwomensday to every single one of you!”

Her daughters are also following in her famous footsteps too, with Women’s Health Mag reporting that Rowan is currently attending university, while Grier is working as a model.

Brooke has also opened up about her battle with postpartum depression following the birth of her first daughter, during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005, and spoke about the stigma of depression and her experience of postpartum depression while receiving an advocacy award from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in Manhattan in 2009.

Speaking about the birth of her first daughter, she said: “I finally had a healthy beautiful baby girl and I couldn’t look at her” adding: “I couldn’t hold her and I couldn’t sing to her and I couldn’t smile at her …”

Brooke was later diagnosed with postpartum depression, explaining: “I learned what was going on inside my body and what was going on inside my brain. I learned I wasn’t doing anything wrong to feel that way. That it was actually out of my control.”

She has since released a book called Down Came the Rain, which talks about her experience of postpartum depression, in the hope of raising awareness.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk