When it comes to Michael Jackson, you don’t wanna be startin’ somethin’ with Stephanie Mills — the R&B legend who originated the role of Dorothy in the Tony-winning musical “The Wiz” 50 years ago.
The 67-year-old diva — who dated Jackson in the ’70s — remains fiercely loyal to the King of Pop and protective of his legacy despite the child molestation allegations that he faced in 1993 and then again in 2003.
The first case — in which Jackson was accused of molesting then-13-year-old Jordan Chandler — resulted an out-of-court settlement in January 1994, while the latter case resulted in the “Thriller” singer being found not guilty of all charges of sexual abuse of another minor, Gavin Arvizo, in a 2005 trial.
Despite all of the ugly accusations against Jackson — covered in the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland” — Mills is still rocking with him 15 years after his death at age 50 in 2009.
“I loved him,” she told The Post. “We had a great friendship, a great relationship. And I don’t like when people try to target what he’s built, you know? Because he … was not convicted of anything. And I knew him well.”
The Grammy-winning songbird — who is currently back on Broadway in a musical for the first time since “The Wiz” as Hermes in the Greek-underworld folk opera “Hadestown” — continued, “He would never do anything to a child. And I know that for a fact. So that’s why I keep his name alive and continue to post about him [on social media]. Because, you know, they like to forget about you and throw you away. And how can they? He was one of the greatest entertainers in the world.”
When the “Never Knew Love Like This Before” singer was passed over for Diana Ross to star as Dorothy in director Sidney Lumet’s 1978 film version of “The Wiz,” she wasn’t bitter about not getting to share the screen with Jackson’s Scarecrow.
“You know, when they first were going to do [the movie adaptation of] ‘The Wiz,’ there was another director who wanted me to be Dorothy,” Mills explained.
But she was happy to let the Motown icon ease on down the road in those ruby slippers — after all, Ross was the Beyoncé of her day.
“Everybody knows that I love and I’m a huge fan of Miss Ross, the Boss,” she said. “So I wasn’t disappointed. I mean, I got a chance to be with Michael, who I loved, and I lived with him on Sutton Place while he was shooting the movie [in New York].
“So I wasn’t disappointed because I got a chance to be with Michael Jackson. So I didn’t care.”
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