My station in Los Angeles sent us to Las Vegas in 2005 to see if we could locate Michael Jackson, who was about to be charged with sexual abuse in California. We never did find Jackson, but a paparazzi photographer managed to get several “exclusive” photos of Michael boarding a private plane that would take him to Santa Maria for his arraignment.
Desperate for any picture of Jackson on the day he was being arraigned, my company, NBC, made out a check for $50,000 to the paparazzi, sent it to me on the next flight to Vegas, and I gave the check to the paparazzi at the airport. Several hours later, those $50,000 photos were virtually worthless.
After his arraignment in Santa Maria, Jackson emerged from the courthouse and climbed onto the roof of his waiting limo. He began dancing on top of it. The media horde waiting outside got lots of video and photographs of Jackson performing on top of the vehicle. The video of Michael dancing on the limo went viral around the world. Everybody had it, including our own people and our affiliates.
Needless to say, the photos we paid $50,000 for earlier in the day never got used. Shows you how much a paparazzi can earn, even if the photos are never published.No wonder those people spend hours waiting in the street.
