5 Celebrities Who Cheated Death on 9/11

With the anniversary of 9/11 just past, we are once again reminded of the tragedy and loss of life that took place on that day, but strangely, there are several celebrities who happened to cheat death on 9/11 when their plans changed, saving their lives without them even knowing it until afterwards. Below are just 5 different strange stories of how 5 stars managed to avoid being another fatality on that fateful day.

Photos: INFdaily.com

Michael Jackson 

Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson recently revealed that Michael was due at a meeting in the World Trade Center on the day of the attacks. However, Michael managed to escape with his life, because he canceled the appointment – he was exhausted from a concert he had performed the night before. Jermaine commented: “We were terrified when the towers fell, as we knew Michael was due there. But mom said he was fine. He missed his meetings, which was great.”

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg has booked a seat on flight 93 – one of the planes which went into one of the towers. However, a friend of Mark’s (named Rasta’ Phil) asked him to rearrange his schedule so they could meet – Mark canceled his reservation on the doomed flight and so he could travel to Toronto instead to see Phil. Mark previously joked about the incident: ”Don’t tell him he saved my life or he’ll want a big check. Actually, I never bring up 9/11 with him… I can’t.”

Seth MacFarlane 

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the hit comedy animation ‘Family Guy, was booked on Flight 11, the other plane which hit the towers. After giving a lecture in Rhode Island, two different factors prevented him from boarding him flight – firstly, his travel agent wrote down the wrong departure time for him, and secondly, he had a hangover. Seth arrived ten minutes too late to board the flight, thus cheating death – who knew a hangover could save your life? He previously spoke on his near death encounter: “After the fact it was sobering but people have a lot of close calls; you’re crossing the street and you almost get hit by a car….this one just happened to be related to something massive. I really can’t let it affect me because I’m a comedy writer. I have to put that in the back of my head.”

Jackie Chan 

Jackie Chan was supposed to be on the roof of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. He was scheduled to film a short role as a window washer for a scene in a movie, but the filming was canceled due to a late script, saving the famous actor’s life.

Gabourey Sidibe

Gabourey Sidibe hadn’t hit the big time back in 2001, and was supposed to be in school in Manhattan, but she overslept. Gabourey revealed that by missing school, she could have escaped death, as parts of the World Trade Center fell on the school and some people died: “September 11, 2001, was the beginning of my first week at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). The school is located in Tribeca and was then split into two campuses: one on the West Side Highway and another building across the street from the World Trade Center.”

She explained how that day, she didn’t wake up: “I had class that morning at eight. Though this almost never happens to me, I woke up too late to get there on time. Even though I was disappointed in myself for waking up so late, I decided to just turn on my TV and catch a talk show. In about 10 minutes, I became aware of the planes hitting the towers.”

“Later that day, one of the towers fell on the school building that I had class in, and people lost their lives. BMCC shut down for a month because the school became a make-shift space for police, firefighters and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians). When the school did reopen in mid-October, I could smell the soot and ashes from the huge hole in the city that was Ground Zero. The smell lingered in every classroom. At the entrance, there were photos of students and teachers who died in the other building, lining the walls as a memorial.”