Entertainment

Why did Michael Jackson bleach his skin?

Questions remain around Michael Jackson’s complicated relationship with his own skin – here is a summary of the alleged reasons for his radical transformations.

Michael Jackson endured a life-long struggle with the appearance of his own skin. For various reasons, the pop king drastically altered the look of his face and skin colour over the course of his illustrious career.

These are a few of the suspected reasons for Jackson’s persistent cosmetic alterations:

  • As a young child, Michael was subjected to harsh criticism from his father Joe Jackson. He was allegedly teased for the appearance of his nose.
  • While Jackson always insisted that he was proud of his African-American heritage, it has been estimated that he altered his appearance so drastically to distance himself from his abusive past.
  • Growing up in the spotlight, Jackson endured the scrutiny of his adolescent acne. He consulted dermatologists to treat acne scarring for most of his life.
  • Jackson supposedly suffered from the skin conditions vitiligo and discoid lupus erythematosus. These conditions led the pop star to bleaching his skin.