Celebrities who almost died on 9/11 and how Gwyneth Paltrow saved a fan’s life

Nineteen years ago today, the entire world watched in horror as terrorists tore down the Twin Towers in New York.

Nearly 3,000 people died on that devastating day, when American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, causing them to collapse.

Another plane flew into the Pentagon, while another crashed in Pennsylvania.

In the wake of the tragedy, survival stories were filled with sliding door moments: lost trains slowing down workers, hangovers preventing people from getting planes, security passes that don’t work.

Now, on the 9/11 anniversary, we take a look at the celebrities who narrowly avoided death and the twists of fate that saved them …

Michael jackson

Michael Jackson might have been among the dead if it weren’t for his mother.

The singer was scheduled to attend a meeting atop one of the skyscrapers that morning, but fell asleep after staying up late to speak with his mother, Katherine, and sister Rebbie.

“Fortunately, none of us had a clue that Michael was supposed to attend a meeting that morning on top of one of the Twin Towers,” wrote Jermaine Jackson in his biography, You are not alone: ​​Michael: through the eyes of a brother .

“We only found this out when Mom called her hotel to make sure she was okay. Her, rebbie [Jackson] and some others had left it there around 3 am.

“‘Mother, I’m fine, thanks to you,'” he said. ‘You kept talking to me so late that I fell asleep and missed my date.’

Despite surviving one of the world’s largest terrorist attacks, Jacko died eight years after suffering cardiac arrest caused by an overdose of prescription pills.

Mark Wahlberg

The Boston-born actor was scheduled to fly American Airlines Flight 11 from his hometown to Los Angeles.

But at the last minute, he and his friends changed their minds and instead chartered a plane for a film festival in Toronto, Canada.

He was later criticized for suggesting that he would have dominated the terrorists had he been on the flight.

“If I was on that plane with my kids, he wouldn’t have fallen like he did,” he told Men’s Journal.

“There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then I said, ‘Okay, we’re going to land somewhere safe, don’t worry.’

He later apologized and admitted: “To begin with, speculating about such a situation is ridiculous, and suggesting that he had done something different to the passengers on that plane was irresponsible.

“I deeply apologize to the families of the victims because my response was insensitive, it was certainly not my intention.”

Seth MacFarlane

Family Guy creator Seth was also supposed to catch the same flight as Wahlberg, but was late due to a hangover and a confusion with his reservation.

His travel agent incorrectly told him that the 7.45am flight was supposed to leave at 8.15am, but when he arrived, boarding was already closed.

“I was booked on that flight and I was drinking the night before and I was hungover and I missed the plane for about 10 minutes. It was a very close call for me, “he said.

He was forced to wait for the next flight and an hour later, Flight 11 hit the north tower, killing everyone on board.

Gwyneth paltrow

While she was not involved in the disaster herself, the Sliding Doors actress experienced her own life-changing moment that morning when she unknowingly saved the life of an office worker.

Lara Lundstrom Clarke had been skating along the Hudson River when she crossed the road and recklessly crossed in front of Gwyneth’s silver Mercedes truck.

Dazzled, she stopped to watch before straying out of the way, and that little delay caused Lara to miss the train to the World Trade Center.

Instead of sitting at her desk on the 77th floor of the South Tower, she was exiting the train when she saw the plane crash into the North Tower.

And ten years later, Lara got back in touch with Gwyneth, who admits the encounter “still gives me the creeps.”

“I can’t believe how many other people changed the course of strangers’ lives that day,” he said.

Sarah ferguson

The Duchess of York’s charity, Chances for Children, was located on the 101st floor of the North Tower, and was supposed to be there that morning.

But his interview with Matt Lauer at nearby NBC studios was delayed and saved his life.

While none of its staff died in the tragedy, 700 workers at financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which allowed them to use part of its office space for free, perished.

Rob lowe

The actor was caught in a fictional race by the attacks just 11 days before reality.

Nothing seemed unusual or suspicious when he took his usual flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles after filming The West Wing.

But later he discovered that he had flown alongside the terrorists and was called to testify against the attacker Zacarias Moussaoui.

“I flew with the 911 hijackers in the drill, without realizing it. I was filming The West Wing in DC at the time and I always took the flight out of Dulles to Los Angeles and eventually into the Pentagon,” he said.

“I did the flight a lot and didn’t think of anything. I got on the flight and it was full, plane.

“I looked around the cockpit, I don’t remember anything in particular, nobody looked scary, nobody looked like a terrorist. It looked like an absolutely normal flight.”