Michael Jackson en Zijn Strijd Tegen de Huidziekte Vitiligo

A misunderstood man

“I am proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity,” Michael Jackson told Winfrey in the interview. He loved the natural color of his skin but was trying very hard to cover up two skin disorders that had plagued him since his early 20s: Vitiligo and Lupus. Michael was undoubtedly an incredibly talented performer. But, imagine him as a young man when white spots started to appear on his skin. He was likely embarrassed and probably did not know precisely what was happening. All he could do is speak his heart out.

One of the legacies Michael Jackson left behind is the truth about human life that we all are black, we all are white, we all are connected, and we all are one.

The revelation

After his death, Michael’s autopsy report confirmed that he had vitiligo. His skin was found to have reduced (though not absent) melanocytes. The report stated a “focal depigmentation of the skin”. Generally, depigmentation occurs on one or a few areas of the body. In Michael Jackson’s case, there were 5 affected areas. He also reportedly suffered from Lupus which made him lose pigmentation sooner than others.

After his death, Gino Brando also revealed that before Michael had depigmentation therapy, he was blotchy all over. Now, he was so white that he would burn at even slight exposure to the sun. He had to always carry an umbrella with him or wear a hat in the sun.

Karen Faye, Michael´s long-time makeup artist noticed his vitiligo more than anyone else. “It was on the right-hand side of his face, down his neck and also on the back of his hand,” he confirmed. In the beginning, Michael used darker makeup to cover that, but then it got more and more difficult to make those white patches match the color of the rest of his skin. Now, he would have to go to lighter and lighter and lighter with makeup.

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He bleached his skin to cover up the white patches that come with the disease as a result of dead pigment-producing cells, according to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli.

The top-earning deceased celebrity for the fifth consecutive year in 2017, according to Forbes, was also diagnosed with lupus and both diseases made his skin sensitive to sunlight while their treatments lightened his skin.

He first wore his iconic solitary white glove, which was later covered in silver sequins, in 1983 during a performance of “Billy Jean” at Motown’s 25th anniversary TV special. The glove which he wore on his left hand throughout his career was an early effort to mask the skin condition.

His friend, actress Cicely Tyson confirmed that the glove was to cover his vitiligo and she was there when he was creating it as the two shared a fashion designer in the 1980s.

“All of a sudden, he said, ‘I’m doing this glove for Michael,’ Michael was beginning to develop the vitiligo and it started on his hand. The glove was to cover the vitiligo, that’s how that glove came into being,” she told CNN’s Don Lemon in 2009.

Michael Jackson was known to be medium-brown in colour since he started singing professionally in 1964 at the age of 6 with his elder brothers as a member of the Jackson 5.