Quincy Jones' 9 most shocking revelations about other celebrities, from Marlon Brando's secret sex life to the Beatles' lack of talent

Quincy Jones' candid thoughts on Pope John Paul's shoes

In a 2018 sitdown with GQ, Jones discussed a 1999 visit to the Vatican with his friend Bono, where the two met Pope John Paul II.

“All the people in the Vatican had these Vatican black shoes,” Jones told the magazine, sharing that the pope did not do this.

“He wore some burgundy wingtips, man, and thin brown ribbed socks, man. We had to go and kiss his hand before we left. And as I was kissing his hand, I looked down and saw these shoes, and they just fell out of my mouth,” he recalled. “I said, 'Oh, my husband has a pair of pimp shoes on.' And he heard me.

Why Quincy Jones wouldn't work with Elvis

While Elvis Presley is known to many as “The King,” Jones was not a fan.

In 2021, he told The Hollywood Reporter that despite working with many of the biggest names in music history, he “wouldn’t work with” Presley.

“I wrote for (orchestra leader) Tommy Dorsey, oh God, back in the '50s. And Elvis came in and Tommy said, 'I don't want to play with him.' He was a racist mother – I'm going to shut up now,” he said, then added: “Every time I saw Elvis, he was coached by Otis Blackwell, who taught him how to sing.” (THR noted that Blackwell previously said he had never met Presley.)

When we talked about Presley before GQQuincy said bluntly, “m———– couldn't sing.”

Quincy Jones calls Michael Jackson “greedy”

As part of an interview full of revealing stories, Jones told Vulture in 2018 that Michael Jackson, with whom he worked Away from the wall, thriller And Bad, stole some of his music.

“I hate to go into it publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs,” he said, noting “Billie Jean”’s similarities to Donna Summer’s “State of Independence.”

The producer added: “He was a real Machiavellian. Greedy, man. Greedy.”

“Greedy, man. Greedy. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” – Greg Phillinganes wrote the C part. Michael should have given him 10 percent of the song. “Wouldn’t do it,” he added.

Years later in a chat with The Hollywood ReporterJones was asked about his early memories of Jackson – whom he met when Jackson was just 12 years old.

“He knew how to do his homework, whether it was with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly or whoever, James Brown,” he said of his behavior on set The magician. “He also did a few Elvis copies. 'The King of Pop', man. Come on!”

Quincy Jones' thoughts on the Beatles' talent

Jones didn't hold back when asked about his first impression of arguably the world's most popular band, calling them “no-playing m————.”

“Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it,” he said. “I remember one time we were in the studio with George Martin and it took Ringo three hours to do a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it.”

Jones recalled telling Starr to take a break and asking jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell to step in.

“Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up,” he shared. “Ringo comes back and says, 'George, can you play it for me again?' So George did it and Ringo says, “That didn't sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, m———– because it's not you.” But great guy.”

Quincy Jones' claims about Marlon Brando's sex life

Jones was the first to claim that the duo had a sexual relationship, claiming that Brando would “fuck anything.” Anything! He would fuck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”

Pryor's widow, Jennifer, later confirmed the rumor, telling TMZ that her late husband was always open about his bisexuality with his friends and would not be embarrassed if the relationship became public knowledge.

Pryor's daughter Rain Pryor and Brando's son Miko Brando both denied the claims.

Quincy Jones says he “knows” who killed JFK

When asked during his conversation with Vulture if there was anything he wished he didn't know, Jones replied, “Who killed Kennedy?”

The music industry icon continued to claim that gangster Sam Giancana was behind the 1963 assassination.

“There was a connection between Sinatra, the Mafia and Kennedy,” he said. “Joe Kennedy – he was a bad man – he came to Frank to talk to Giancana about getting votes.”

Jones then stated, “We shouldn’t talk about this publicly.”

Quincy Jones shares a memory of working with Judy Garland

Jones once recalled a cheeky interaction with Judy Garland that he witnessed while working with her at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1961.

“We were doing the evening show with Duke Ellington and she came out and the wind was blowing in the microphone, so Phil Ramone, the sound engineer, came out and put a condom over the microphone – to keep the wind out,” he said THR. “And when Judy came out, she liked it.” (Author Seth Abramovitch described a move like oral sex.)

“I never let her forget it,” Jones added.

It was difficult working with Cyndi Lauper on We Are the World

In his 2018 interview with vultureJones was asked in his memoir about an anecdote about how some of the rock stars who wanted to be included on “We Are the World” complained about the song. Jones shared that it was one star in particular who seemed to have an issue with the song.

“It wasn’t the rockers,” he explained. “It was Cyndi Lauper. She had a manager come to me and say, 'The rockers don't like the song.' I know how this works. We went to see Springsteen, Hall & Oates, Billy Joel and all these cats and they said, “We love that song.” So I said (to Lauper), “Okay, you can just break up and leave.” And she was with everyone Recorder frantic because her necklace or bracelet rattled in the microphone. Only she had a problem.

Quincy Jones says he once “dated” Ivanka Trump.

After calling his former acquaintance Donald Trump a “megalomaniacal, narcissistic” and “crazy m———–,” Jones casually added, “I used to date Ivanka, you know.”

“Wait, really?” vultureasked David Marchese.

Jones further claimed that he and Ivanka met 12 years ago – when they were 72 and 24 respectively – after she asked Tommy Hilfiger to organize a dinner for them.

Jones remembers telling Hilfiger at the time: “No problem. She’s a fine m———–.”

“She had the most beautiful legs I have ever seen in my life,” he continued. “But the wrong father.”