Michael Jackson's colleague reveals key lesson from him

Kenny Ortega had a long history of collaborating with the late pop icon Michael Jackson. Appearing on the Chicks in the Office podcast, he recalled a lesson the King of Pop taught him before his death.

"He would always start by saying, 'Kenny, we can't let fear into the room. Fear only gets in the way of creativity. We can't let fear into the room," the High School Musical director shared. “And he was aware of it. He watched for it."

For instance, Michael Jackson's This Is It filmmaker recalled that the Billie Jean singer would halt rehearsals during tour if he spotted an executive or accountant in the audience. "He didn't want the money people in the room going, 'You can't do that. We can't afford that. We can't.'" 

The choreographer continued, “At the end of the day, you know, we had to balance a budget. He didn't really like to do that very much, but he was a creative genius, and he just didn't want anything in the space."

Kenny collaborated on several late musician's tours, including the Dangerous World Tour, HIStory World Tour, and Michael Jackson & Friends.

On June 25, 2009, Michael died from a cardiac arrest, which was due to an overdose of propofol.