№ 40 · MOMENT
Jarvis Cocker Invades the Stage
Brit Awards 1996, Earls Court, London — February 19, 1996
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
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CARD N° 40 · MOMENT · ★ RARE
Jarvis Cocker Invades the Stage
Brit Awards 1996, Earls Court, London — February 19, 1996
№ 40 MOMENT
Jarvis Cocker Invades the Stage
During Michael's performance of Earth Song at the 1996 Brit Awards — staged as a five-minute messianic tableau in which Michael appeared as a white-robed Christ figure with children embracing him — Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker climbed onto the stage from the audience and mooned him. He was arrested.
▶ THE MOMENT
Jarvis Cocker Invades MJ's Earth Song Performance, BRIT Awards 1996
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUmCMlNwSPo
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
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THE FACT
During Michael's performance of Earth Song at the 1996 Brit Awards — staged as a five-minute messianic tableau in which Michael appeared as a white-robed Christ figure with children embracing him — Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker climbed onto the stage from the audience and mooned him. He was arrested.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
The stunt happened roughly three minutes into the song. Cocker, who was watching from the second row, later said he had been 'overwhelmed by the pomposity of it — the literal positioning of him as Jesus'. He climbed onto the stage, ran across waving his arms and lifting his shirt, then turned and pulled down the back of his trousers before being chased off by stage crew. He was held overnight at Kensington police station and questioned about assaulting children (he had not — security cameras showed he never touched the kids on stage). The charges were dropped. Bob Mortimer, the comedian, served as Cocker's defence solicitor pro bono. The British press treated Cocker as a folk hero. Michael's team issued a furious press statement; Michael personally never publicly addressed it. The incident became the BRIT Awards' most-replayed moment in its history; it also briefly tripled Pulp's UK album sales the week of February 25, 1996.
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THE MOMENT
Jarvis Cocker Invades MJ's Earth Song Performance, BRIT Awards 1996 — Approximately 3:30 into the performance — Cocker climbs the stage.