Us Weekly has obtained exclusive footage of the fire that – some would say – was the beginning of Michael Jackson’s medical problems. In 1984 he was shooting a video for Pepsi when a pyrotechnic went off too soon. You can see Jackson’s hair catch fire, which he does not realize. He makes it all the way down the stairs of the stage before he’s tackled by a group of men with a fire extinguisher. It appears like he’s either trying to fight them off (probably because he still didn’t realize his hair was on fire, and a bunch of people were rushing at him) or is panicking. The video is immensely disturbing – a feeling that’s enhanced by the creepy music it’s set to.

New footage has emerged of Michael Jackson’s harrowing Pepsi commercial accident 1984 that set the late singer’s hair on fire, causing severe burns to his face and scalp — and is said to be the start of his reported painkiller addiction, according to Us Weekly.

Jackson was filming the commercial with his brothers at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 27, 1984. The video, obtained by Us, shows that pyrotechnics were set off too early at the start of the sixth take, setting Jackson’s hair on fire.

Jackson is unaware of the flames at first and continues dancing before people rushed to his aid. The King of Pop suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and scalp. He was prescribed different pain medications, which kick-started his addiction and obsession with plastic surgery, Us reports, adding that the singer — who was at the height of his career at the time — was “never the same” afterward.

[From the Seattle P.I.]

Last week Celebitchy reported that Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein told Larry King that Michael was using tissue expanders in his skull as a result of this accident.

KING: Did he have hair?

KLEIN: He had lost a great deal of it. You forget this first fire…

KING: That was the Pepsi fire, right?

KLEIN: Yes. But then what happened is he used a great deal of what are called tissue expanders in his scalp, which are balloons that grow up — blow up the scalp. And then what they do is they try to cut out the scar.

Well, because he had lupus, what happened is every time they would do it, the bald spot would keep enlarging.

So, I mean, he went through a lot of painful procedures with these tissue expanders until I put a stop to it. I said no more tissue expanders, because he had to wear a hat all the time and it was really painful for him.

[From CNN Transcripts]

The way Klein describes it, it sounds like Jackson must have been in excruciating pain. I think most people have heard about the Pepsi commercial accident off and on, but actually seeing the footage for the first time was more upsetting than I expected. Probably because it seemed like such a turning point in Jackson’s life. He still had some of his best work ahead of him, but also a lot of scandal and heartache like most of us will hopefully never have to endure. But it’s like, right up to this point, you’re seeing THE Michael Jackson, when it was just about the phenomenon. And in a second, he’s about to start having pill addiction, cosmetic surgery addiction, all sorts of mental health issues, abuse scandals. It’s just a very strange moment to watch.