19 September 2023 , 14:58
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Michael Jackson struggled with insecurities about the way he looked, his son Prince Jackson has revealed.
The King of Pop, who died at the age of 50 in 2009, struggled with vitiligo and was left feeling anxious over his "blotchy" appearance. The chronic condition causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation, with the patches then turning a milky white colour.
Vitiligo most commonly affects a person's face, neck and hands. Prince said his dad was open about the condition and would talk about it to him throughout his childhood. "He had a skin condition called vitiligo, I think it was even on the autopsy report. I think the cause of it, it's up for speculation, but it's either vitiligo or some form of lupus that contributed to the vitiligo," he explained during an appearance on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast.
Michael Jackson suffered from vitiligo (Getty Images)
Prince Jackson has opened up about his dad's disorder (Getty Images for Harold & Carole)The 26-year-old added: "He had a lot of insecurity around, kind of looking blotchy in his appearance. So he wanted to see if he could smooth out his appearance, to help with his security on his physical appearance."
Michael had revealed he had a skin condition during an interview with Oprah Winfrey back in 1993, with the singer seemingly referring to vitiligo. He said he had a family history of it. Oprah said: "The colour of your skin is obviously different than it was when you were younger". The talk show host said there was speculation about him potentially bleaching his skin and asked: "Is your skin lighter because you don't like being Black?"
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Michael suggested he had a family history of a skin disorder (Getty Images)Michael said he wasn't aware of skin bleaching and added: "This is the situation, I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin. It's something I cannot help, okay?" The superstar singer also admitted that it "hurt" to hear people "make up stories". Michael added: "It's a problem for me. I can't control it."
The Thriller hitmaker was known for wearing a single white glove throughout his career, with one of his friends revealing Michael had it designed to "camouflage" signs of vitiligo. Late actor Cicely Tyson spoke about the glove while at Michael's memorial service in 2009.
Cicely had recalled: "All of a sudden, [my designer] said to me 'I'm doing this glove for Michael'. Well, Michael was beginning to develop the vitiligo and it started on his hand." She claimed that the accessory had been created to cover signs of the condition, with her saying: "The glove was to camouflage it. That's how that glove came into being."