Highlights
- Michael Jackson faced controversies and scandals throughout his career, including backlash for dangling his newborn and his close relationship with Macaulay Culkin.
- The singer had vitiligo, a skin condition that resulted in white patches on his skin, causing his skin tone to change drastically over the years.
- Michael Jackson underwent over 100 cosmetic surgeries, including multiple nose jobs, cheek implants, eyelid surgery, and more, as he had a desire to be someone else.
Michael Jackson is one of the most talented musicians of all time. With so many great songs, incredible vocals, and iconic dance moves, it’s no wonder that this singer was branded the king of pop. However, his success was often overshadowed by controversies and scandals he got involved in, like the backlash he faced for dangling his newborn over a hotel railing and his close relationship with child actor Macaulay Culkin.
Despite his success, Michael Jackson’s personal life was anything from perfect. For instance, the singer was so terrible with money that he lost $26 million on his History World Tour despite selling out every show. And in a recent interview, Prince Jackson revealed that the king of pop struggled with anxiety and insecurity because of his skin condition.
Michael Jackson Was Diagnosed With A Skin Condition
In the mid-80s, Michael Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin disorder that results in white patches on the skin and sensitivity to sunlight. Because of this, the singer’s skin tone changed drastically over the years.
At first, everyone speculated that the Thriller singer had undergone skin bleaching treatments, but in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson shot down these rumors. “I know of, there is no such thing as skin bleaching. I’ve never seen it, I don’t know what it is.” He said he had a hereditary skin disorder (vitiligo), and would use make-up to even out the uneven skin tone. “It is something I cannot help,” Jackson told Oprah.
“When people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me. It’s a problem for me. I can’t control it. But what about all the millions of people who sit in the sun to become darker, to become other than what they are. Nobody says nothing about that,” the musician further added.
Years after his passing, dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein revealed to People how he treated Michael Jackson’s vitiligo condition, “You have one choice where you can use certain drugs and ultraviolet light treatments to try to make the white spots turn dark.”
Klein explained that Jackson’s vitiligo “became so severe, that the easier way is to use certain creams” – very likely hydroquinone derivatives, say other industry experts – “that will make the dark spots turn light so you can even out the pigments totally.”
Prince Jackson Revealed Michael Jackson Was Extremely Insecure About His Physical Appearance
In a rare public appearance, Prince Jackson revealed that his father’s biggest insecurity was his vitiligo skin condition. “When I was younger, he was always explaining to me, speaking about that,” Prince revealed during his appearance on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast.
Tyson chimed in to explain that, at the time, most people believed Michael “was changing his skin because he wanted to be white, he was changing it because he wanted to glow. He wanted to be a light, he wanted to shine.” But Prince quickly shot down these rumors, explaining that there’s a lot of proof for his father’s skin condition. “I think it was even in the autopsy report. I think the cause of it is up for speculation, but it’s either vitiligo or some form of lupus contributed to the vitiligo,” he explained.
Prince went on to say that the condition caused his father extreme anxiety. “He had a lot of insecurity around, kind of looking blotchy in his appearance,” he explained. “So he wanted to see if he could smooth out his appearance, to help with his security on his physical appearance.” This explains why the singer underwent so much treatment to cover up his vitiligo.
Michael Jackson Underwent More Than 100 Cosmetic Surgery Over The Years
In addition to lightening his skin to cover up his vitiligo, Michael Jackson underwent many plastic surgeries over the years. His first cosmetic procedure was in 1979 when a 21-year-old Jackson got a nose job after reportedly breaking his nose while in dance rehearsal.
The actor clearly had more surgery on his nose over the years, although he only admitted to having had two rhinoplasties in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk. But in the 2015 documentary, The 10 Faces of Michael Jackson, it was stated that the late singer had more than 100 cosmetic surgical procedures done on his face over the course of his life.
“He had multiple surgeries,” Dr. Wallace Goodstein, who worked beside Jackson’s surgeon in the 1990s, told People. “He came in approximately every two months. It was about 10 to 12 surgeries in two years, while I was there.” The doctor explained that the singer “had multiple nose jobs, cheek implants and he had a cleft put in his chin. He had eyelid surgery … You name it he had it.”
J. Randy Taraborrelli, who has tracked Jackson’s career for more than three decades and wrote an unauthorized biography of the singer, claims that MJ had so many plastic surgeries because “he didn’t want to be Michael Joseph Jackson. He just wanted to be something else. And he went about the business of doing that.”
Source: NewsFinale
