NBA legend Charles Barkley revealed the mojo behind Dennis Rodman’s superstardom during a 2022 appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, where he famously dismissed the rumors about dating Madonna. Sir Charles also clarified that Dennis Rodman wasn’t a rebound guy for the pop star.
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This was followed by Patrick stating that maybe Chuck wasn’t “strange enough” for her as compared to Rodman. That’s why they didn’t end up dating. However, Barkley revealed that people like Rodman and Madonna weren’t ‘strange’ in real life. They just played characters in public to build their brands.
Chuck explained why stars choose to appear ‘strange’ or ‘out of the ordinary’ to other people. In the case of Rodman, he said that being strange helped the Worm earn more money during his career.
Barkley used his dinner with Madonna as an example to make his point. He revealed that the ‘Queen of Pop’ was “normal” for the three-four hours they spent together. In his opinion, all her theatrics were orchestrated to get people’s attention. He said, “Most celebrities that I’ve met who are strange, they’re not like that privately, they just have a gig going publicly.”
He stated that Rodman, who is one of his good friends, is a very normal person behind the scenes. Barkley pointed out, “He didn’t start making a crap load of money until he started dressing up in wedding dresses…He probably made an extra $10-$15 million.”
The Chuckster believes that no one would’ve paid such a big paycheck to a player only known for defensive rebounds. But Rodman’s brand, that made headlines almost every other day, warranted a fat check for all the promotion.
Whether it was all a gimmick or Rodman was living that life outside of the limelight as well, he surely had some iconic moments. One of his most iconic moments was when he wore a wedding dress to his book launch.
Dennis Rodman wore a wedding dress to his book launch event
During a conversation with GQ, Rodman revealed that it was all a gimmick to promote his 1996 book ‘Bad as I Wanna Be.’ That was also the first time when the Bulls star realized that he was a superstar. “You would have thought that the Yankees won the World Series,” he said. It was nothing but a marketing strategy and it worked after a huge crowd pulled up to see him in New York.
He also revealed during the interview that when the idea was co-signed by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, he knew it was going to be massive. “I went out to the gym, and I was riding the StairMaster. And to my left was Steven Tyler, just working out…Steven just jumped off the StairMaster and said, ‘Oh, my God, that is so f***ing awesome!’”
Tyler was known for his eccentric dressing sense and he was one of the biggest stars in the world. That was all the validation Rodman needed to show up to an event in a wedding dress.
