Michael Jackson asked Leif Garrett to teach him How To Masturbate Garrett book reveals

Leif Garrett claims Michael Jackson once asked him to teach him how to masturbate. Garrett reveals the story in his new autobiography ‘Idol Truth: A Memoir: Leif Garrett’.

Jackson was three years older than Garrett. He was 20 at the time, Leif 17 but Leif was the bigger star. Leif was a global teen pop star with hits ‘Surfin’ USA’, ‘Runaround Sue’ and ‘I Was Made For Dancin’ already worldwide hits. Michael was yet to make his solo breakthrough with the album ‘Off The Wall’ but as a kid had solo hits with ‘Ben’, ‘Got To Be There’ and ‘Rockin’ Robin’. The change with ‘Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough’ was yet to happen.

The pair met while both on the road and touring the world and became close friends. The “lesson” took place in Switzerland in February 1979. Garrett reveals in the book that Jackson approached him one night in the hotel bar and asked “Can you tell me how to… masturbate?”

Garrett gave Jackson a key to his room and directed him to his stash of “naughty” magazines for inspiration. Jackson went off to “Beat It”.

Garrett has taken 40 years to tell the “off the wall” Jackson story.

Leif makes no judgement about what went down and explains in his book admitting that as Jackson is not around to defend himself he will make no assumptions on Michael’s true intentions.

‘Idol Truth: A Memoir: Leif Garrett’ will be published in June 2019 by Post Hill Press.

About the book Garrett says, “I’m writing now because I think I can finally make sense what happened to me over the years. I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I just needed the right amount of distance from all these events. This will be a book about what it’s like to be turned into a teen idol; a trip deep inside the machine that will reveal what it truly feels like to be transformed into an object of insane desire and adoration. But it’s also a book about a little kid that just wanted a normal family. It’s about the ravages of drug addiction. And celebrity culture. It’s about lost youth, trying to be an artist and also fighting for control of one’s own life. It’s not all going to be pretty, but it’s going to be honest.” Garrett is also happy to be working with his co-writer. “I met Chris two years ago and we bonded immediately over music, growing up in the 70s and more- but especially music. He totally gets where I’m coming from as both a writer and a friend and how we are crafting this book is a story in itself.”

Listen to the Leif Garrett podcast with co-author Chris Epting.