Englewood Rabbi Played Matchmaker for Michael Jackson

The King of Pop once unsuccessfully courted former 'Today' show host Katie Couric through intermediary Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, according to an interview Couric had with Howard Stern.

About 12 years ago, Boteach, then Jackson's spiritual adviser, reached out to Couric inquiring if she had been dating anyone at the time, according to the New York Daily News.

Couric thought Shmuley – an Englewood resident who himself has nine children with his wife Debbie – was angling for a date, she told Stern on his radio show. But it wasn't the "Shalom in the Home" host who was interested, it was Michael Jackson. Unfortunately for Jackson, Couric was taken at the time.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” the pop star told her, she said, adding that he remarked, “That’s the kind of girl I would like to go out with.”

Jackson and matchmaker Boteach would have a falling out in 2002, where he reportedly was placed on Jackson's alleged "Enemies List."

Following Jackson's death in 2009, Boteach published a series of taped interviews he conducted with Jackson over a two-year period.