Producer Babyface Claims Michael Jackson Once Tried To Date Halle Berry

Legendary producer Babyface shared a story about Michael Jackson during a Verzuz battle on Instagram live. The producer said Jackson once called him and asked for Halle Berry’s number because he wanted to ask her out on a date.

Well-known members of the hip-hop community have engaged in one-on-one battles on Instagram where they will play hits from their catalogs against each other. These have become popular during the coronavirus outbreak as fans have been forced to stay at home but want to see artists perform. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds went up against producer Teddy Riley this week and shared several anecdotes.

As reported by Complex, one particular story that caught the attention of viewers involved Jackson, who Babyface knew both professionally and personally. The R&B legend revealed that the Thriller singer once contacted him about the actress. Jackson asked if Babyface knew her and if he could introduce the two of them.

“Michael said, ‘Babyface, do you know who Halle Berry is? Do you know Halle Berry?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know Halle Berry.’ He said, ‘Could you do me a favor? I want you to call her because I want to take her out on a date.'”

The LaFace Records honcho had met Berry since he was an executive producer for songs on the movie soundtrack for Boomerang, which starred the actress. However, he did not have her personal phone number. Babyface contacted Berry’s agent and passed the message on that Jackson wanted to take her out.

“So I reached out through the agent, ’cause I didn’t have Halle Berry’s number,” he told Riley on Instagram. “So I called and get the message to her manager, and he said, ‘What?'”

Babyface did not clarify whether the singer and actress ended up going out. He used the anecdote to segue into his next clip during the battle, which featured audio from Berry’s performance in Boomerang where she talked about love.

According to Complex, fans on Twitter were shocked to hear the Jackson story.

“Hold up!!! Michael Jackson wanted to go out with Halle Berry?!?!?” one tweeted.

One said the anecdote alone should have earned the producer extra points for the battle.

“Babyface shoulda got two points for that MJ/Halle Berry story,” they wrote.

The outlet reports that the Babyface versus Riley battle brought in a record-breaking 3 million viewers on Instagram live. Longtime Babyface collaborator, Toni Braxton, offered up some commentary on the duel on her Twitter feed.

Their battle came after the two had much-maligned technical issues over the weekend, and Riley became the subject of viral memes mocking his age.