A Video of Michael’s Hair Catching Fire (Warning: Disturbing Content)

This is a video of the terrifying incident on January 27, 1984 in Los Angeles, which happened to Michael while filming a Pepsi commercial.

That year, 3,000 people at the same location witnessed the incident. The footage of the accident was recently shown for the first time on the US Magazine website. In the video, part of his scalp—where, as a result of the incident, he completely lost his hair—is visible. You can download this video from download.

Size: 2.32 MB — Format: flv

Some time ago, Pepsi released a statement regarding this video.

While filming the Pepsi commercial, Michael’s hair caught fire. He was dancing to the song Billie Jean when the explosions around him threw sparks onto his hair, causing it to ignite. But Michael didn’t notice his hair burning and continued dancing. He was so calm that the audience thought the burn was also part of the commercial footage.

A few seconds later, some people on the scene rushed to Michael and put out the fire on his head. At the time, Michael was using special sprays on his hair that gave it a wet, shiny look. This hairstyle was very popular among people. The presence of this substance on his hair accelerated the ignition.

But Michael kept dancing, which reduced the intensity of the flames. However, the fire only stopped after it had already caused damage. He was then taken to the hospital. Reporters and photographers were waiting for Michael there, and he asked to put on his white gloves before being seen on the gurney. He said that with those gloves, he was never out of the scene.

As compensation, Pepsi paid Michael $1.4 million, and Michael spent all of that money on setting up a burn treatment unit named after him. The unit used high-pressure oxygen technology to treat patients’ burn wounds.

This incident occurred 25 years ago, when Michael was at the peak of his career, but it had very tragic consequences for him.

Michael’s scalp and parts of his face suffered severe second- and third-degree burns to the extent that doctors considered his survival a miracle. It was necessary for Michael to undergo skin graft surgery. To help him endure the unbearable pain of the burns and the surgeries that followed, doctors prescribed painkillers. Many believe that this was the beginning of his addiction to painkiller pills.

From then on, throughout his life, Michael faced many physical pains that forced him to use painkillers to calm himself. These included, among others, numerous fractures, spasms, and multiple back pains. For example, once, as a result of an incident that happened to him during a concert, one of the vertebrae in his back was injured.

He dealt with dehydration problems throughout his life. Extremely hard rehearsals for performances several times caused him to lose consciousness and faint during practice, and even once his performance was canceled.

Even once, being bitten by a venomous spider exposed him to a flood of pain and painkillers. More recently, it was said that he was dealing with chronic insomnia.

During the 2005 trial, he ate and drank nothing, and his weight dropped to 43 kilograms. At the same time, he was hospitalized due to dehydration, and throughout the trial he had back spasms; still, he could barely attend the court sessions. Once, because he couldn’t wear formal trousers due to extreme back pain, he entered the courtroom in pajamas. The media and late-night show hosts mocked him, and some accused him of trying to deceive public opinion and attract attention.

Source: eMJey / dailymail & US Magazine