Quincy Jones doesn’t mince words when it comes to some of the biggest stars who have entered his orbit over the years.
The 84-year-old record producer recently sat down with Vulture for a wide-ranging interview where he opened up about everything from working with Michael Jackson to dating Ivanka Trump. Some of his shocking claims may seem out-out there, but a few have already been confirmed to be true!
Read on for some of the biggest revelations from Jones’ sit-down.
Jones says he once dated Ivanka Trump
After calling his former acquaintance Donald Trump a “megalomaniac, narcissistic” and “crazy motherf—er,” the legendary producer added as an aside, “I used to date Ivanka, you know.”
Vulture’s David Marchese spoke for all of us when he asked: “Wait, really?”
Jones went on to claim that he and Ivanka dated 12 years ago, after she asked Tommy Hilfiger to set up a dinner for them. Twelve years ago, they would have been 72 and 24.
Jones recalls telling Hilfiger at the time, “No problem. She’s a fine motherf—er.”
“She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life,” he continued. “Wrong father, though.”
He revealed that Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor were lovers
Jones was first to allege that the legendary duo had a sexual relationship, claiming that Brando would “f— anything. Anything! He’d f— a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”
On Wednesday, Pryor’s widow Jennifer confirmed the rumor, telling TMZ that her late husband was always open about his bisexuality with friends and would not be ashamed that the relationship was revealed publicly.
RELATED VIDEO: Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor Had Sex, Says the Comedian’s Widow
He called The Beatles the “worst musicians in the world”
Jones didn’t hold back when asked about his first impression of arguably the world’s most popular band, calling them “no-playing motherf—ers.”
“Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it,” he said. “I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for 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 calling jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell.
“Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up,” he shared. “Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherf—er because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
Jones claimed Michael Jackson lifted music from Donna Summer
“I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs,” Jones said. He cited Donna Summer’s “State of Independence,” from which Jackson lifted the riff for his hit “Billie Jean,” he said.
The producer added, “He was as Machiavellian as they come. Greedy, man. Greedy.”
Jones also said that he would “kill” Jackson over his plastic surgery, calling the late music icon’s excuse that he had vitiligo “bulls—.”
He doesn’t think Oprah Winfrey should run for president
Despite calls for the TV legend to run for office, she’s shut down the idea — and Jones agrees that Winfrey doesn’t belong in the White House.
“I don’t think she should run. She doesn’t have the chops for it,” he said. “If you haven’t been governor of a state or the CEO of a company or a military general, you don’t know how to lead people.”
That said, he isn’t a big fan of current commander-in-chief Donald Trump. “He doesn’t know s—. Someone who knows about real leadership wouldn’t have as many people against him as he does. He’s a f—ing idiot.”
Jones says he knows who killed President John F. Kennedy
The music industry icon alleged that mobster Sam Giancana was behind the assassination.
“The connection was there between Sinatra and the Mafia and Kennedy,” he said. “Joe Kennedy — he was a bad man — he came to Frank to have him talk to Giancana about getting votes.”
Jones then stated, “We shouldn’t talk about this publicly.”
There’s no “innovation” in modern pop music
“It’s just loops, beats, rhymes and hooks. What is there for me to learn from that? There ain’t no f—ing songs,” Jones said. “The song is the power; the singer is the messenger. The greatest singer in the world cannot save a bad song. I learned that 50 years ago, and it’s the single greatest lesson I ever learned as a producer. If you don’t have a great song, it doesn’t matter what else you put around it.”
However, there are a few modern acts that he approves of. “Bruno Mars. Chance the Rapper. Kendrick Lamar. I like where Kendrick’s mind is. He’s grounded. Chance, too. And the Ed Sheeran record is great,” he shared. “Sam Smith — he’s so open about being gay. I love it. Mark Ronson is someone who knows how to produce.”