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Kevin Connolly Played With Bubbles the Chimp at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch

Kevin Connolly
Kevin Connolly said that he played with Bubbles the Chimp during a 1998 visit to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

These days, Kevin Connolly‘s entourage consists of Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven, but back in 1998, Connolly was running with a debatably cooler posse: Michael Jackson and his beloved pet chimp, Bubbles!

Related: PHOTOS: Celeb bromances

During a Thursday, May 28, appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live! with Entourage costar Dillon, Connolly, 41, told host Andy Cohen about the debauchery he encountered during what Vulture called a “tepee party” at Neverland Ranch with pal Leonardo DiCaprio. “The craziest thing I ever saw at Neverland Ranch . . . I played with Bubbles!” Connolly said, faking out the late-night talk show host. Connolly declined to elaborate on the encounter.

Related: PHOTOS: Michael Jackson through the years

Purchased by Jackson from a Texas research facility in the early ’80s, Bubbles was Jackson’s constant companion, and was taken all over the world with his owner in the lap of luxury. The primate even drank tea with the mayor of Osaka, Japan, during MJ’s Bad World Tour. Though many argue the animal was abused by his owner, Bubbles slept in a crib in Jackson’s room and used the singer’s toilet.

Michael Jackson and Bubbles
Michael Jackson enjoys a cup of tea with his pet Bubbles at Osaka City Mayoral Hall in 1987.

Once Bubbles became too large and combative to be a companion animal, he was sent to a California animal trainer, and later moved to a Florida sanctuary in 2005, where he remains today.

Related: PHOTOS: Michael Jackson as a dad

Earlier this week it was announced that the ranch the late Jackson once called home — and outfitted with amusement rides and a petting zoo — is up for sale. Carrying a $100 million price tag, Neverland is now known as “Sycamore Valley Ranch,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The railroad tracks and train station Jackson created, along with the floral clock spelling out ‘Neverland,’ remain in place, but the property has otherwise been overhauled by its most recent owners. Jackson paid $19.5 million for the 2,700-acre property and called it home for 15 years before his death in 2009.

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