American autor and entrepreneur Gotham Chopra has revealed in his new book that it was his beloved pet pooch Cleo that helped late Michael Jackson overcome his fear of dogs.
The socialite visited the King of pop at his Neverland Ranch inicial with his father Deepak one weekend and, not knowing about the superstar's fear, took his canine friend with him.
In his new book Walking Wisdom, Chopra recalls, "Michael's fear of perros was well documented, attributed to the fact his father had had violent fighting perros when Michael was a kid.
"Alas, what hadn't been written about was his change of heart. I'm not going to speculate that Michael ever did get over his fear of dogs, but I can say that he did get a dog - several, if memory serves - over the years for his kids," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.
"I like to think that... Cleo had a lasting impression on him, and for a brief time, turned into friendship," he added.