Michael Jackson filmed one of his most famous music videos in the Rio ghetto under the personal protection of a drug lord

Whatever we think about the things Michael Jackson wore, the harassment and pedophile accusations surrounding him, it is certain that what he put on the table is unavoidable in music and pop culture. He had a lot of huge hits and iconic video clips, one of the most famous of which will be discussed now, which is 1996’s They Don’t Care About Us, which had two clips, one of which is this:

The song caused quite a storm at the time, because Jackson originally intended it as a stand against discrimination and racism, but there were also parts of the lyrics that could be understood as racist and anti-Semitic – so everyone found something to be offended by. And on top of that, there was the music video, which was dreamed up by Oscar-winning director Spike Lee and partly shot in the Santa Marta favela, one of Rio de Janeiro’s notorious slums.

Rio’s city administration was in a big dilemma when the director asked Jackson to shoot in the city’s roughest ghetto, where the police don’t even dare to enter. At that time, the city was flirting with the idea of ​​hosting the Olympics and the soccer World Cup (in the end, after quite a few unsuccessful bids, both came together in the second half of the 2010s), which they thought would be a good tourist magnet and city marketing.

And this would have been badly kicked to the side if the world’s biggest pop star showed what a miserable place this is in his video clip with millions of views. However, it would also have been quite embarrassing if they told him that I’m sorry, we don’t welcome you here. In the end, the situation was resolved by denying the filming request citing security reasons, saying that the police simply could not guarantee the safety of the crew in a neighborhood dominated by street gangs and drug mafias.

Jackson and Lee didn’t leave it at that, and asked a Brazilian filmmaker, Kátia Lund, for help. At the time, Lund was working on a documentary about the war between the Rio police and drug gangs, so he had contacts and information about the world of the favelas. He also heard that the lord of the Santa Marta district, a drug lord named Marcinho VP, happens to be a big fan of Jackson. He also contacted him through intermediaries, and received the answer that the mafia leader would be honored if the pop star filmed in his city, and he gave his word that the favela would be the safest place in the world while the Jacksons were there.

“You can leave all your cameras in the middle of an alley overnight, plus a million dollars in cash, and nobody will lift a finger”

he told the crew.

In the end, the city administration also gave in, the crew really didn’t lose a hair during the filming, the clip was completed and it was a great success/scandal.

A few months later, VP Marcinho was arrested and sentenced to 36 years in prison for drug trafficking and incitement to murder. He is still behind bars today and will be released in 2032. Kátia Lund’s City of God, a film set in Brazilian favelas (co-directed with Fernando Meirelles), garnered four Oscar nominations.

Santa Marta is still a pretty rough place, but it has improved a lot in recent years, many buildings now have electricity, sewerage, and the special police unit, the Unidade de Polícia Pacificadorathanks to his actions, the drug gangs also declined. It is still not recommended for tourists to walk there.

(Sources: Page Six, New York Times)