In a recent interview with Vlad TV, Stephanie Mills opened up about her relationship with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. In the segment released two weeks ago, Mills speculated that she thought that their differing career paths likely led to their split back then, although “his family really liked them being together,”

Mills said, “Michael wanted so much more is probably why we went our separate ways,” She continued, “He wanted to be the biggest star in the world, and he wanted to associate with certain people that I didn’t want to associate with. So we just went in different paths…he liked and would go to their houses and stuff, and I wasn’t particularly interested in going.”

The Tony Award-winning performer revealed that Jackson often had issues with self-esteem and that sometimes his fans didn’t treat him kindly due to the skin issues that he suffered from back then. “I spent a lot of time with him. I was like in heaven because this was Michael Jackson that was on all the covers of Right On Magazine and Ebony and Jet.”

“He was suffering from some acne things, and he didn’t like that some of the fans weren’t too kind to him when they would see him with his acne.” Mills described Jackson as “loving, kind, gentle, and easygoing” but also incredibly calculated in getting what he wanted. 

“Michael was not a punk…he knew what he wanted, he knew how to get it,” she said. “He was very strategic in things that he did.”

The conversation continued to discuss how Jackson’s vitiligo affected their relationship. 

“Michael was Black. His mother wanted him to date Black. Do you know what I’m saying? To be with a Black girl,” Mills said; however, Jackson didn’t have the same type of ideal woman in mind as his mother. “He wanted to be a certain way, you know,” she said. “He wanted to be a certain way, and he lived his life the way he wanted to. He liked a certain type of woman, and he thought it would be best for him and his career to be with certain types of women.”

She even admitted that she believed Jackson likely thought that dating white women, who were his preferred taste, would help him be more successful in the industry.

“I think he felt he would be more accepted in the world that he wanted to go in, in the world he wanted to dominate. I believe he felt that … He made himself look the part that he felt would … that he would become a huge star. I believe that so he felt that for him, it was important to dominate the world of pop music. That’s why he decided to call himself the King of Pop.”