On the morning of January 16, 2004, a small California town called Santa Maria was packed. Fans had come from all over to stand outside the courthouse. Traffic backed up for more than two miles.
Michael Jackson was due inside for a hearing that day. He showed up about 20 minutes late.
The judge, Rodney Melville, was not pleased. He looked at Michael and said, “Mr. Jackson, you started off on the wrong foot with me.” Michael entered his plea quietly, said very little, and left the courtroom.
That could have been the whole story. A tense morning and a quiet man slipping out of a courthouse.
But then Michael stepped outside, and the day turned into something else entirely.
Michael steps onto the roof of his SUV to greet the crowd
Watch how the fans react the second he climbs up. You can hear it in their voices.
The crowd had been waiting for hours. When Michael came out, he didn’t just wave from behind a wall of security and disappear into a car. He climbed right up onto the roof of his black SUV. Up there, above everyone, he clapped his hands and stamped his feet along with the fans. He blew kisses out to the crowd.
People were screaming. Some were crying. For a few minutes the whole mood of the day flipped from heavy to something close to a celebration.
And he wasn’t finished.
As all of this was going on, members of his staff were moving through the crowd handing out slips of paper. They were invitations. Michael was inviting the fans to come spend the afternoon with him at his Neverland Ranch, for a free open house.
Think about that. The same day he’d been called to court and scolded by a judge, he threw open the gates of his home to total strangers who had stood on a sidewalk for him.
The invitations were printed in the spirit of love and togetherness. He wanted those fans to feel welcomed, not shut out.
It’s one of those moments that says a lot about who he was. The crowd outside mattered to him just as much as anything happening indoors, and he found a way to show it.
The clip above is short, but it’s the real thing, filmed right there on the street that morning. The sound alone tells you how much that crowd loved him, and how much he loved them right back.
Turn it up and watch the moment he climbed up to say hello.