Ain’t nobody got time for the haters — we’re too busy dancing.
Global (24 April 2016) – This past February a man named Sean O’Brien was body-shamed and bullied for dancing in public but a tribe of body-positive women tracked down O’Brien, a.k.a. “The Dancing Man,” to remind him that he can dance whenever and however he wants by inviting him to his very own dance party.
The 46-year-old British financier who was shamed online for being overweight and having the audacity to dance was dancing again on Saturday — at a huge party thrown in his honour by a group of women from Los Angeles who saw his picture online and befriended him.
The theme? Anti-bullying.
“One of the worst things that ever happened to Sean turned out to be one of the best things,” singer and motivational speaker Andrew WK said at the event, reported Yahoo.
O’Brien and WK were joined at Avalon nightclub by Monica Lewinsky, Moby, who DJ’d the event, and Cassandra Fairbanks and friends, who were O’Brien’s original champions.
“I offer my dj services for free for #DancingMan #DancingManFound #FindDancingMan. No one should ever be ashamed about dancing,” wrote Moby in March on Twitter.
$40,000 was raised via GoFundMe to finance the party.
And although Pharrell couldn’t make it, he tweeted his support.
Have fun tonight @dancingmanfound @CassandraRules. The whole world is dancing with you #DancingMan #DANCEFREE
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) May 24, 2015
O’Brien’s saga started in February, when a photo taken of him dancing was posted on 4Chan — followed by a photo of him looking dejected and crestfallen, because he noticed he was being laughed at and photographed.
“Spotted this specimen trying to dance last week,” reads the caption. “He stopped when he saw us laughing.”
Anyone know this man or who posted this? There's a huge group of ladies in LA who would like to do something special pic.twitter.com/DGbu3AXOrB
— Cassandra Fairbanks 🕊 (@CassandraRules) March 5, 2015
To #DancingMan.. @xorachelflies @TziporahMetler @HOPELEIGHMUSIC @isthisrita @lysee_love @FeliciaaBro @stephaniefilo pic.twitter.com/xYfpnPAM08
— Cassandra Fairbanks 🕊 (@CassandraRules) March 6, 2015
Hey @CassandraRules keep me posted about your dance party! @Dancingmanfound, never be ashamed of yourself. You are both truly #OTHER🙏
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) March 6, 2015
When Cassandra Fairbanks, a writer for The Free Thought Project in Los Angeles, saw it, she was upset O’Brien was body-shamed and bullied just for trying to have fun, so she rallied to find him and throw him a dance party. In less than a day and over 11,000 tweets later, according to Mashable, he was found and accepted the invitation.
YAY TWITTER!!! @Dancingmanfound #FindDancingMan ❤️❤️❤️
We are going to dance!!! pic.twitter.com/G7FxuiSsIh
— Cassandra Fairbanks 🕊 (@CassandraRules) March 6, 2015
O’Brien has become something of a cause celèbre for celebrities who want to make a point against body-shaming, but also because he seems like such a good-natured guy. And now, many would call him a pretty lucky guy:
In addition to dancing with Meghan Trainor on the “Today” show and throwing out the first pitch on Sunday at the L.A. Dodgers game, according to People, Dita Von Teese also picked him up in her 1953 Cadillac on Monday, and he bought her her favourite food for lunch: tacos.
“Had the pleasure of lunch with #dancingmanfound @dancingmanfound Sean O’Brien this afternoon! I picked him up in my 1953 Cadillac and he treated me to my favorite food, tacos! #dancefree #stopbullying (…yes, it’s a taco purse. Thank you, @charlotte_olympia!) Thank you @angiesplace007 for the image!”
We would love to actually know who posted the original body-shaming pic and if they were invited to the big bash… could make for an interesting conversation.
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