MICHAEL JACKSON - PEPSI CAN'T DOUSE JACKSON FIRE FOOTAGE

PEPSI CAN'T DOUSE JACKSON FIRE FOOTAGE

Pepsi-Cola has condemned the widespread distribution on the Internet of footage filmed during production of a Michael Jackson commercial for the soft-drink company in 1984 showing Jackson's hair catching fire when a pyrotechnics stunt went awry. The burn injuries that he sustained as a result of the accident, according to some of those close to Jackson, eventually led to his dependence on pain-killers. Pepsi spokeswoman Nicole Bradley said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly that the company did not know how the footage, first posted on the US magazine website, was obtained. "Twenty-five years later, we'd question why anyone would want to share such frightening images. It was a terrifying event that we'll never forget," she said. She added that the company had no plans to demand that the footage be removed. "We don't know who owns it, so we have no recourse as far as I know."

17/07/2009