The tragic events of 9/11, which occurred in 2001, have now marked 23 years since that fateful day. The terrorist attacks that shocked the world resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths. However, what you may not know is that some celebrities narrowly escaped death, brushing shoulders with the grim reaper, including a very famous superstar.
According to reports from the US edition of the Daily Express, on September 11, 2001, there were some celebrities who were scheduled to attend events at the World Trade Center in New York, where the twin towers were later attacked by terrorists and crashed. These celebrities were fortunate enough to have missed the events and thus did not become victims. One of them was the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.
Jermaine Jackson, the late legendary superstar’s brother and a current American singer, had written a memoir for him titled “You Are Not Alone Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes”. In this book, Jermaine revealed that Michael had planned to attend a meeting at the World Trade Center that morning but overslept and missed it.
Jermaine reminisced, “Thank God, none of us knew Michael was supposed to be on one of the upper floors of the towers for a meeting.”
He recalled Michael telling their mother, “Mom, I’m okay, thank you. You kept me up talking so late that I overslept and missed my appointment.”
Another celebrity who narrowly avoided death during the 9/11 attacks was American actor Mark Wahlberg. He had a reservation on American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, but circumstances prevented him from boarding.
The plane, originally scheduled to fly from Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California, was hijacked and crashed into the North Tower, resulting in the loss of all onboard passengers, with an estimated 1,600 people perishing in the tower.
Another American actor, Seth MacFarlane, also narrowly missed boarding that fateful flight. He had fallen asleep in the airport lounge and missed the departure time, essentially saving his own life.
Upon seeing the news of the plane crashing into the North Tower, he told the airport bartender that he was supposed to be on that flight, prompting the bartender to pour him a drink.
One more celebrity who narrowly avoided the 9/11 attacks was Sarah, Duchess of York, the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, from the UK. She had an office in the North Tower of the World Trade Center but was conducting an interview elsewhere when the tower was attacked, thus escaping tragedy.