Music | 14 November 1991

Michael Jackson, Macaulay Culkin, George Wendt

The accompanying music video/short film for Michael Jackson's "Black or White" was directed by John Landis, who previously directed the "Thriller" music video (1983). It was filmed from late September to early October 1991. It was choreographed by Jackson and Vincent Paterson. It contains a Dolby Surround sound mix. The video premiered simultaneously in 27 countries, with an audience of 500 million viewers, the most ever for a music video. It premiered on MTV, BET, VH1, and Fox (giving them their highest Nielsen ratings ever at the time) as well as the BBC's Top of the Pops on 11/14/1991. The first version that premiered has no graffiti in the final section while the second version does in order to provide context after people complained about Jackson's violent and sexual behavior. Jackson explained he was mimicking the nature of a black panther. The black panther is the symbol of the Black Panther Party which was an African-American revolutionary organization.