"One of Michael's true real friends"— Chris Tucker and Michael Jackson's friendship explored as fans praise actor's dancing video 

Stand-up comedian and actor Chris Tucker took to Instagram on August 29 and shared a video of him dancing and singing along to his late best friend, Michael Jackson’s 1979 iconic song, Rock With You, accompanied by YouTuber, actor, comic, and producer D.C. Young Fly. The post marked the 66th birth anniversary of the pop legend.

“Had a great time this week at the MY foundation golf tournament! Me and D.C. Young Fly dancing to ROCK WITH YOU!! Happy birthday MJ!!!. #christuckerfoundation,” the post was captioned.

As mentioned in the post, the duo attended the annual Chris Tucker Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this week, where they matched steps to MJ’s classic number. Jerome Bettis, Big Tigger, and Ariel Collins were also in attendance at the event.

Amid this now-viral video, the internet is having heartfelt reactions, while celebrating the friendship of Tucker and Jackson. For instance, Instagram user @humble_n___blessed commented on The Shade Room’s repost of the clip by writing:

“One of Michael’s true real friends.”

A netizen calls Tucker a real friend of MJ (Image via Instagram/ @theshaderoom)

Many others shared similar reactions across other social media platforms such as X.

“Chris Tucker is back at it again. This man never hesitates to show his love for his bestie Michael Jackson,” a fan wrote.

“If Chris Tucker does nothing else, he goes up for his bestie…” another fan wrote.

“One thing Chris Tucker is going to do is always support his best friend's music,” one fan wrote.

Others continued to shower love and appreciation for the Rush Hour actor never missing an opportunity to pay tribute to his late friend and his music.

“I will never get tired of seeing Chris Tucker celebrate Michael Jackson by dancing to his music,” a person wrote.

“Chris Tucker IS Michael’s friend for eternal life!,” another person wrote.

Meanwhile, some praised the collaboration between D.C. Young Fly and the former Def Comedy Jam performer, wishing to see them in a movie soon.

“Been waiting to see these two do something like this,” a netizen wrote.

“We need them both in a comedy movie idc,” wrote another.

Notably, earlier this year, during an appearance on the Funky Friday podcast, D.C. Young Fly shared that Tucker is an “OG” and they were close enough for him to call the latter up any time, be it for advice or a general conversation. “We ain’t ever gotta make a movie,” the #DigitalLivesMatter actor added. He also claimed that Tucker told him that he would reprise his Friday franchise role if he played his son.

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Exploring the friendship of Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker

Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker became friends after the latter was featured in the music video of the former’s 2001 single You Rock My World from the studio album Invincible. That same year, Tucker joined MJ and Usher on the stage during a performance of the song at the former’s career’s 30th anniversary celebration.

At the same concert, the Atlanta native introduced MJ and then opened up about their friendship and the time he received a phone call after the release of his movie Rush Hour 2. According to the comedian-actor, the pop star pointed out how he kicked with the “wrong leg” (left instead of right) during the famous club scene and asked him to “stop making me look bad.”

While Chris Tucker has never been outspoken about his friendship with the King of Pop, during an April 2023 interview with GQ, he got candid about the time he flew on a private jet from Los Angeles to New York, to meet Michael Jackson for the first time in the early 2000s.

"I was in New York for two days waiting to meet MJ. I took a private jet there. I said, 'Well, I ain't heard from him, I got to go.' Took a private jet back to LA and as soon as I landed, I had a message: 'Michael Jackson wants to meet you tomorrow morning.' I was still on the plane. I went up to the captain and said, 'I'll pay you whatever you want to take me back to New York,'" the 52-year-old stated.

In the same interview, Chris Tucker also shared how his late best friend would often encourage him to work more in Hollywood and even tried to convince him to “make history” together, adding that the world needed to see “more” of Tucker.