The so-called Dancing Man has danced his way into Hollywood.

Sean O’Brien became an object of online ridicule in March after images of him busting a move at a concert were posted on 4Chan with the comment: “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing.”

The 46-year-old Liverpool, England, native was able to spin that hate into a positive with the help of a social media campaign and a few celebrities.

The Dancing Man had swiftly become a meme and a target of fat-shaming. But a few sympathetic parties sought out the jolly financier, launching the #FindDancingMan anti-bullying campaign, which was supported by Free Thought Project writer Cassandra Fairbanks and musicians Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding and Moby. The latter offered to DJ a dance party in O’Brien’s honor gratis.


Fairbanks and her team tracked down O’Brien through the hashtag and promised to fly him from Britain to L.A. “for the dance party of a lifetime.” They raised more than $4,000 online to make it all happen.

Their efforts came to fruition over the weekend, kicking off on Friday in New York when O’Brien appeared on the “Today” show’s Toyota Concert Series getting down with “All About That Bass” singer Meghan Trainor.

O’Brien, who said he dances “a lot, but badly -- very, very badly,” called the whole experience “completely surreal.”

“It’s something I never thought would happen to me. It’s completely amazing,” he told the “Today” crew. “There’s so many good people out there in the world, and what did happen to me, it touched a lot of nerves. The more we can do and the better we can do [against] cyber-bullying is fantastic.”


After that, the Dancing Man made his way to L.A., where he was the guest of honor at Hollywood’s historic Avalon nightclub on Saturday.

“This is truly a testament to what people could do when they work together and the fact that good can overcome bad,” a tearful Fairbanks told the crowd at Saturday’s shindig. “People working together can change things and we can make things better and we can do good.”

Moby deejayed the event as promised, Williams made an appearance via video and musician Andrew WK, anti-bullying campaigner Monica Lewinsky and “Fresh Prince” alum Tatyana Ali joined the festivities, which benefited charity.

“Have fun tonight @dancingmanfound @CassandraRules. The whole world is dancing with you #DancingMan #DANCEFREE,” tweeted Williams.


O’Brien also threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Sunday where the Dodgers played the San Diego Padres. He was outfitted with a Dodgers jersey that read “Dancing Man” on the back and his moves were reportedly featured on the stadium’s DodgerVision.

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.