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Whatever Happened to Jacko's Bubbles?

Bubbles was Jackson's infamous "bosom pal," but where is he now?

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 29, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

(Newser) – In the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, Neal Rubin of the Detroit News wondered: Whatever happened to Bubbles the chimpanzee? “For a while, Bubbles appeared to be Jackson’s best friend, which was sort of sad for both of them,” Rubin writes. The odd coupling lasted from 1985, when Jackson adopted 3-year-old Bubbles from a cancer research center, to 2003, when the chimp’s aggressive behavior threatened Michael’s real baby.

After all, “you wouldn't want a chimp dangling a baby over a hotel balcony or anything dangerous like that,” Rubin observes. He went into investigative mode and found that Bubbles was relocated to an animal trainer’s California compound. In short, “he’s 26 and living like a wild animal, as opposed to dressing in costumes, wearing a diaper, and sharing the bathroom of an internationally famous musician.”

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In this Wednesday Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, the sculpture "Michael Jackson and Bubbles", by artist Jeff Koons, is shown on display in the chateau de Versailles in Versailles, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, file)

Jeff Koons' 1988 sculpture, "Michael Jackson and Bubbles," a portrait of the pop star and his pet monkey, is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago on Thursday, May 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels)

Bubbles, a chimpanzee owned by Michael Jackson, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, holds up a photo of himself and the singer, while a plush Bubbles doll stands beside him, Tokyo, Japan, 1987. (Getty Images)

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Michael Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles "moonwalks" in 1987. (daprincedallas)

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A tabloid report from 2003 claimed that Bubbles had tried to commit suicide, but details are sadly wanting even as the mental pictures dance. Did he use his superior primate strength to rip the door from a medicine cabinet? - Neal Rubin

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Whatever Happened to Jacko's Bubbles?