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SkepticsDid Michael Jackson artificially lighten his skin?
[+35] [2] Monkey Tuesday
[2011-06-09 01:07:55]
[ biology dermatology ]
[ https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/4420/did-michael-jackson-artificially-lighten-his-skin ]

hello mr. hen, this picture is quite vital, I assure you.

When it comes to superstars of his level, there always seem to be controversies, conspiracies, or some other mystery, and just one of the many surrounding Michael Jackson is that he for some reason intentionally had his skin color altered.

Regardless of the cause, there is no denying he exhibits a dramatic difference in pigmentation between the time he shot the ' Thriller [1]" video and the " Black or White [2]" video. And ever since I was young, everyone seems to have had their opinion as to why this happened.

I've heard the same old rumors (as I'm sure many others have) since the early 1990's, some insisting Jackson had his skin somehow lightened, either chemically or medically. Others explain that he had a skin condition known as vitiligo [3], which turns skin lighter through depigmentation. People counter that argument by saying there has never been a documented case of vitiligo causing depigmentation as widespread as Jackson's. I've yet to see either argument backed by compelling data, and to the best of my knowledge, this debate continues informally to this day, along with whether or not Elvis is still alive and whether or not Paul McCartney is an impostor.

There are of course countless internet debates such as this [4] where people voice one opinion or the other, although I notice a startling lack of any real evidence to back up these claims.

Personally, I cannot say I find the argument of either side terribly compelling, and have yet to come across an explanation I would be willing to accept as both correct and complete.

So, where does the science come down on this one?

Is there any scientific evidence that Michael Jackson intentionally lightened his skin?

Could his extensive (some would say unprecedented) depigmentation be explained by vitiligo?

Is it even scientifically possible to lighten skin that dramatically through either chemical or medical procedures?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_whitening - picakhu
(1) Maybe he just stopped going out in the sun. I've seen white people get pretty dark when they spend entire days in the sun, as well as brown people become almost completely black. There's also a lot of people who have very pale skin from lack of sunlight. Could his change in pigment have to do with just spending a lot of time indoors. He seemed to be in hiding a lot. - Kibbee
(2) @Kibbee, from my understanding, the reason you become darker when you go into the sun is because your body naturally cannot cope with the intense light. So your body produces more melanin which is a naturally occurring dark pigment. I do not think the converse is true. i.e. less light does not mean lightening of skin. - picakhu
(1) No, but let's just assume the opposite. That's MJs natural skin color (without sunlight) is close to what his skin color was in the "Black or White" video. Maybe when he was younger, he got a lot more sunlight, causing his skin to be darker. - Kibbee
@Kibbee, I never thought about it that way. Perhaps. But then white people who are in the Sun a lot do not become that dark. So, perhaps it is not that logical. - picakhu
plus of course there are diseases that can cause a dark skin to get lighter, and there've been persistent rumours that MJ suffered from that. I've never (and this is as should be, it'd be doctor/client privilege of course) seen anything to substantiate that. - jwenting
(3) It can't be vitiligo. It doesn't appear by your skin slowly getting paler, it appears by you getting splotches that go completely pink. You can have it so widespread that it's almost all over the whole body, though. But Vitiligo it ain't. - Lennart Regebro
@Lennart, references please! - Oddthinking
@Oddthinking: Google for it. :) But the answer below is a good example. - Lennart Regebro
Although, I find this photo intriguing: nairaland.com/attachments/… Maybe it was Vitiligo anyway... But how was the process not more visible? He didn't seem to go splotchy at the time, he seemed to slowly go "lighter"... Perhaps good makeup? - Lennart Regebro
@Lennart, does that photo have any provenance? Where's it from? (Note: that link isn't serving the JPG correctly (wrong MIME type?) forcing me to save and rename.) - Oddthinking
I thought this wasn't even controversial... - Camilo Martin
The whole bleach thing is ridiculous when you think about it. Skin bleaches only lighten the skin slightly. I don't care how rich you are or whatever the explanation is,a bleach that was powerful to change a back man white would be extremely hazardous. I mean the chemicals would surely burn your skin or even absorb into your pores and make you sick if not kill you. It would have to be industrial grade! Skin lighteners are quite popular in Asia and Africa but they don't turn people completely white! Secondly, Jacksons autopsy report states that he had vitiligo. Thirdly, I had a friend in high s - user10905
[+24] [2011-06-09 13:52:50] John Rhoades

First off, it's pretty well documented that Michael Jackson suffered from some form of vitiligo [1], which is a skin disorder that causes uneven depigmentation of the skin. This results in having a blotchy, uneven skin tone, or what is sometimes described as a "harlequin" appearance.

I found that this website had the most thorough explanation of his particular struggle with vitilgo.

Vitiligo Photos (and Lupus) Michael Jackson [2]

From the article:

Two candid pictures from the Triumph tour where Michael’s very heavy stage make-up is be running. (Read more about stage make up in reference to this discussion here). People made fun of him in the 1980s because of all the make up he wore (i.e. made him look feminine) but there was a reason as to why he used it.

Whatever else you may say about the King of Pop regarding surgery, possible misdeeds, or how he handled his condition, it's pretty evident that he HAD a condition. Whether or not he later chose to bleach his skin in order to give himself a more even complexion, I cannot say. Most times you see him, he is wearing extensive makeup anyways.

As far as whether or not skin bleaching is even possible, the answer is "Yes".

Skin Whitening [3]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo
[2] http://floacist.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/vitiligo-photos-michael-jackson/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_whitening

(5) Presumably, lupus would also explain why he changed from human to wolf in one of his videos! - Golden Cuy
How is it "pretty well documented"? I know there is the autopsy. It is far less controversial that he had lupus. Lupus is not listed in the autopsy, so it raises the question of whether the listing of vitiligo is indeed factual. What other documents say he had vitiligo? - Octopus
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[+10] [2011-06-09 11:43:59] Benjol

I'm guessing this doesn't count as evidence by a long shot, but on this website there are some interesting photos of Michael Jackson (though some of them don't show his face, so no proof that it is really him).

For All Those Who Thought Michael Bleached His Skin [1]

However, the really interesting photo is the example of a completely different girl going from 'black' to 'white'. Once again, no proof that it's the same person in each photo...

enter image description here

[1] http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-310669.0.html

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