On February 10, 1993, Michael Jackson gave the world an explanation for the whiteness of his skin in an exclusive interview he did with Oprah Winfrey.
Michael : Number one, as I know of, there is no such thing as skin bleaching, I have never seen it, I don’t know what it is.
Oprah : Well they used to have those products, I remember growing up always hearing always use bleach and glow, but you have to have about 300,000
gallons.
Michael : Okay, but number one, this is the situation. I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin, it’s something that I cannot help. Okay. But when people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I
am it hurts me.
Oprah : So it is…
Michael : It’s a problem for me that I can’t control, but what about all the millions of people who sits out in the sun, to become darker, to become other than what they are, no one says nothing about that.
Oprah : So when did this start, when did your … when did the color of your skin start to change?
Michael : Oh boy, I don’t … sometime after Thriller, around Off the Wall, Thriller, around sometime then.
Oprah : But what did you think?
Michael : It’s in my family, my father said it’s on his side. I can’t control it, I don’t understand, I mean, it makes me very sad. I don’t want to go into my medical history because that is private, but that’s the situation here.
Oprah : So okay, I just want to get this straight, you are not taking anything to change the color of your skin …
Michael : Oh, God no, we tried to control it and using make-up evens it out because it makes blotches on my skin, I have to even out my skin. But you know what’s funny, why is that so important? That’s not important to me. I’m a great fan of art, I love Michelangelo, if I had the chance to talk to him or read about him I would want to know what inspired him to become who he is, the anatomy of his craftsmanship, not about who he went out with last night … what’ wrong with … I mean that’s what is important to me.
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