First, Michael Jackson fought off cantankerous tourism officials in Brazil. Now his crew reportedly paid off drug traffickers.
Rio newspapers reported Monday that the pop superstar's production crew paid protection money to a cocaine kingpin in order to film scenes for his music video, "They Don't Care About Us," in a city slum.Spike Lee filmed for six hours Sunday in Rio's Dona Marta, a jumble of shacks, open sewage ditches and maze-like alleys.
"We had to get permission from somebody to shoot there," Lee said Monday. "So once we got permission, whether they were drug dealers or not, I don't know."
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Brazilians had objected to the video because they feared it would taint the city's image and hurt its chances to host the 2004 Olympics.