After Michael Jackson’s 25-year-old burn afflictions made news again with the release of the Pepsi commercial outtakes that show the horrible accident that befell Jackson, TMZ looked for answers as to who was responsible for the accident in the first place. Pepsi sought its own answers, wondering in a press statement who would want to release this video for profit after all this time.

EW obtained Pepsi’s statement regarding the 1984 Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercial video release. Pepsi representatives reportedly said that Pepsi has no knowledge of how the commercial outtakes were leaked to the public, and the corporation takes no responsibility for its emergence. Since the incident happened 25 years ago, Pepsi doesn’t believe it has the right to withdraw it from consumption. Pepsi doesn’t know whose video it is, or whether Pepsi has legal rights to it. Pepsi states that it is despicable of the originator to save the video, and then use it to capitalize on Michael Jackson’s death.

US Weekly Magazine announced that it had obtained exclusive footage of the never-before-seen accident that caused second and third degree burns and permanent disfigurement to Michael Jackson’s scalp. They theorize that Michael Jackson’s pain killer addiction was born out of the tragedy. US Weekly did not reveal how they obtained the footage.

In the video, the Pepsi commercial rehearsals appear to move smoothly with the Jackson brothers at the head of the stage, while Michael Jackson emerges from a burst of flames in the back. He trots down the staircase to join his brothers in singing, “You’re the Pepsi generation.” On the sixth take, someone films Michael Jackson from the rear. He seems to linger at the top of the staircase as the sparks fly. A spark lands on his head, and it immediately lights his hair up like a flaming crown.

An unaware Michael Jackson descends the stairs as normal, but then seems to suddenly realize that he is on fire. Jackson spins himself frenziedly as a crowd of people descends upon him to put out the fire. Michael emerges from the crowd for a few moments, looking dazed. A bald spot the size of a baseball appears on his head as burned and damaged hair flops loosely around his head.

The first question that anyone might ask is, “Whose fault is this?” The answer to that question might be the director, Bob Giraldi, who according to TMZ.com, told Michael Jackson to delay his descent down the stairs in order to create a more dramatic effect. TMZ obtained this tidbit from fire captain Don Donester, who was the fire safety inspector on hand for the pyrotechnics display. Giraldi denied the claim and hung up on TMZ when they called to confirm. Donester said the decision went against the fire safety rules, and he added that he was one of the men who stamped Michael Jackson’s fire out.

Michael Jackson’s autobiography supports Donester’s claims. In Moonwalk, Michael Jackson wrote:

Giraldi "came up to me and said, 'Michael, you're going down too early. We want to see you up there, up on the stairs. When the lights come on, we want to reveal that you're there, so wait.'"

Michael Jackson received second and third degree burns to his head and face. Pepsi gave him a $1.5 million settlement, and he donated that money to create the Michael Jackson Burn Center for Children at the Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City, California. Jackson additionally donated a hyperbolic burn chamber. Michael entered the chamber just to see how it felt. He was photographed inside the chamber, and the photo sparked rumors that he slept in an oxygen tank.