Howie Mandel’s daughter, Jackelyn Shultz, loved Michael Jackson as a child, and she really wanted her then-unborn brother, Alex Mandel, to be named after the late King of Pop.
Howie Mandel’s eldest daughter begged for her brother to be named Michael Jackson.
As a child, Jackelyn Shultz was mad about the late King of Pop – whose illustrious music career is charted in the biopic, Michael – and she thought naming her then-unborn sibling Alex Mandel would be the perfect way to honour the Thriller hitmaker.
America’s Got Talent judge Howie told People: “My daughter, who is now 41, and I were obsessed with Michael Jackson. When she was four years old, [she] wanted my son, who’s 36, when my wife [Terry] was pregnant with him, she wanted us to name our son Michael Jackson.”
Jackelyn was very vocal throughout her failed name campaign, but the opposite when she met Michael, who died in June 2009, aged 50.
Howie, 70, recalled: “We took her to meet him one day, and she just couldn’t talk, and she was terrified. And he was so sweet and wonderful with her.
The comedian joked: “So it was an epic time where I wanted her to know that that’s Michael Jackson and not her brother.”
Jackelyn became so overwhelmed and scared when she set eyes on Michael, she hid in the bathroom, and the Billie Jean legend got upset when Howie pressured her to come out and meet the 13-time Grammy award-winning artist.
During a March episode from the pair’s Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Jackelyn remembered: “He was doing a photo shoot with the monkey [Bubbles], right?
Didn’t he have animals with him? He was doing a photo shoot.
“I saw him. I got so starstruck and so scared. I started crying and hid in the bathroom. And they were trying to take me out.”
Howie jumped in: “No, I kept saying, ‘Jackie, you gotta come see him, come on. Michael doesn’t have a lot of time. Please, Jackie, come on out.’
“And I’ll never forget this. He said, ‘You’re being really mean to your daughter. She’s scared. Leave her in the bathroom.'”
Howie also has a daughter called Riley, 34, with his 70-year-old wife, Terry Mandel.
Howie Mandel’s daughter campaigned for her brother to be named Michael Jackson
