# really, exactly how DID Jackson become white all over his body? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754 "2009-07-02T23:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/61 "2009-07-09T05:40:02Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Godfrey Cambridge in _[Watermelon Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_Man_(film))_. Godfrey Cambridge _is_ black. The first part of that film was done with him in whiteface makeup. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/62 "2009-07-10T10:27:02Z")
I believe he did have vitiligo. I don’t think the numerous plastic surgeries undermine the vitiligo claim; I think vitiligo may have been the impetus for the surgeries. He spent his childhood and adolescence being told by his father how fug he was. He wasn’t, of course, and he may have spent a lot of time telling himself he wasn’t, but without believing it deep down. Then he got the nose job, which boosted his confidence, and no reason it shouldn’t have. Plenty of people get a boost in their self-esteem from one procedure: nose job, liposuction, chemical peel or what have you. But it seems that it was about that time that the vitiligo developed. D’oh! After all the years of telling himself there was nothing wrong with him, suddenly there was something wrong. And that may have begun the process of going off the rails. The vitiligo got worse and worse, with no way of stopping it, so he became fixated on facial reconstruction as something he could control. If I’m right and he did have it, perhaps without it he would have stopped with the first nose job. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/63 "2009-07-10T15:52:06Z")
Good explanation by someone who should know on Larry King Wednesday night. Excellent chance it will repeat this weekend. In short there is the common disease that causes white spots. He had it bad. The places between the white spots were made white using a cream. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/64 "2009-07-10T16:16:24Z")
According to MJ’s dermatologist on Larry King, the vitiligo was caused by lupus. It’s never lupus. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/65 "2009-07-11T03:06:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Godfrey Cambridge _is_ black. The first part of that film was done with him in whiteface makeup. I know. That was a joke answer. Hey, what’s that noise overhead? Sounds like some sort of rushing air current. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/66 "2009-07-11T05:02:44Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I know. That was a joke answer. > Hey, what’s that noise overhead? Sounds like some sort of rushing air current. OK. There’s no indication in your post that you were anything but serious, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![p4poetic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@p4poetic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p4poetic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754/67 "2009-07-12T04:48:39Z")
There’s no point in arguing whether he had it or not; there are medical documents that confirm that he was diagnosed with discoid lupus and vitiligo in the early 80s. During the 2003 trial, both the prosecution and the defense maintained that he had this skin condition, as well as the doctor in a deposition. Had he been lying, he would of been charged with a serious crime. > [@Rilchiam](#): > > I believe he did have vitiligo. I don’t think the numerous plastic surgeries undermine the vitiligo claim; \*\*I think vitiligo may have been the impetus for the surgeries. \*\* > > He spent his childhood and adolescence being told by his father how fug he was. He wasn’t, of course, and he may have spent a lot of time telling himself he wasn’t, but without believing it deep down. Then he got the nose job, which boosted his confidence, and no reason it shouldn’t have. Plenty of people get a boost in their self-esteem from one procedure: nose job, liposuction, chemical peel or what have you. But it seems that it was about that time that the vitiligo developed. D’oh! After all the years of telling himself there was nothing wrong with him, suddenly there was something wrong. And that may have begun the process of going off the rails. The vitiligo got worse and worse, with no way of stopping it, so he became fixated on facial reconstruction as something he could control. If I’m right and he did have it, perhaps without it he would have stopped with the first nose job. But he had plastic surgery on his nose way before he was diagnosed with vitiligo, as early as 1978 (the first time was due to him breaking his nose on stage, actually). > [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > The guy spends a fortune getting plastic surgery to make his nose look caucasian, thinks (or pretends) his caucasian children are his own, and just happens to get a disease that turns him white? Oh, and by the way a variant of it that makes him a nice uniform light color when it’s finished running its course. Oh, and by the way, a variant that sort of progressively lightens the same areas over the years…or at least a variant that lets him get “treated” with bleaching to even it out gradually. > > Sure…mmmm hmmmm…sure. > > Believing he had vitiligo as the cause of him turning so uniformly pale is right up there with the folks who apparently believed those kids were fathered by him. I remember bursting out laughing when Michael explained to that Bashir guy how the masses were totally confused about color inheritence, and how it was quite ordinary for parents of any color to have children who are any other color. (I have no idea what Mr Jackson himself personally believed about fathering the younger Prince Michael, so for all I know he was actually being sincere.) > > But there’s a point at which the gullibility of the polloi strains my credulity. I knew someone would say that… I don’t know what exactly do you mean by a ‘caucasian nose’ but I’ve never seen any white people with a triangular shaped nose. Also, where does that leave the Caucasian people who have nose jobs as well? Secondly, he went under depigmentation to even up his skin. Before that, he was putting on brown make up. And unless you have the DNA test that proves otherwise, its a very pompous claim to state as a fact that they are not his children. Example. These are actress Garcelle Beauvais’ twins: [![](http://lh5.ggpht.com/fisherwy/R-k9PWV-siI/AAAAAAAAOKw/8YhtFFQg2L0/Garcelle+Beauvais-Nilon+Twin+Boys+Picture%5B4%5D.jpg) ](http://lh5.ggpht.com/fisherwy/R-k9PWV-siI/AAAAAAAAOKw/8YhtFFQg2L0/Garcelle+Beauvais-Nilon+Twin+Boys+Picture%5B4%5D.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-exactly-how-did-jackson-become-white-all-over-his-body/501754.md?page=3)