I personally think he should've opened up to the world about his skin condition during his 1986 award speech. I'm sure the public, especially the fans would understand. It would've been a weight off his shoulders, and it would raise awareness on Vitiligo. Something like this can be very traumatic, and you can see the sadness in his eyes during those years trying to cover it. Unfortunately he was very private and insecure, which led to the media starting rumors of their own

I think people often forget he was the most famous person pretty much on the planet. Imagine dealing with several conditions whilst already being insecure from your family teasing you whilst going on stage whilst having millions of people constantly watching you. I mean you would have to be Jesus himself in order to take the amount criticism Michael took. 99 percent of people would completely break in his situation

I remember as kids, my siblings and I sat around the tv awaiting the world premiere of Black Or White. We were surprised at how much different he looked at first (Compared to the Thriller and Bad Era), but we were happy that he was back with new music and videos and didn't focus on the lighter skin tone. (He always looked cool no matter what!) That's the way Michael wanted it to be, that we enjoyed and appreciated his talent first and foremost.

Michael had vitiligo. It was on his autopsy report. It was listed very high up on the report which means it was readily visible to the eye. It was one of the first things noted. It was his choice on how to treat it, no one else's. It was his business, no one else's. Besides it doesn't matter what shade a person's skin is. As Michael himself said a person should be judged by the content of their character not the shade of their skin. And the content of Michael' s character was impeccable.

He was criminally misunderstood because of his condition....People like to judge because they're not experiencing it.....As a human being and a black man, I can't never know how he felt going through all the BS, I can only feel bad

I must give major respect to The Detail as this platform is the ultimate example of professional journalism, (literally) detailed researched information and respect for Michael Jackson himself. There's no gimmicks, zero sensationalism, embellishments, slick cheap shots or personal opinions about the person for whom is being discussed that is Mr. Jackson. There's caring involved in this content and it shows. I appreciate this channel so much. Respect on all levels.

Man, vitiligo is an awful thing to have. And I’m saying this from first hand experience. Covers at least 60% of my legs arms and face. My hands and feet are now 100% white. The changes began to happen about 16 years ago, and showing now signs of stopping completely(although it has slowed). Some people deal with it better than others. But I can imagine how difficult it must’ve been for MJ to go through it at a time when he was the most famous person on the planet. I can comprehend why he decided to make other changes overtime. But those decisions were made by a man not thinking with a great deal of clarity. May he rest in peace 🙏🏾

What's important is Michael's message to the world in his music. His private life is his.

the last quote of michael's brother describing his vitiligo was painful too hear...the fact that everyone still chooses to believe that michael wanted to be white TO THIS DAY shocks me, he was way too precious for this world. love how informative this video is, i hope many see it so they are educated about his skin condition

I do believe that Michael did have vitiligo but I also think he lightened his skin just even out the blotches he may have had. Which I don’t blame him for doing.

Vitiligo is rare....no matter what....i still remember his words' " *Am proud to be a Black* "

I feel for him 🥺... I loved his skin tone but no matter what he's still black.

It doesn't matter if you black or white, but seemingly it did matter if you black and white. But in all seriousness. I'm sorry you had that trial MJ. The world still loves you just as you were. Still. Just wish you'd have been able to look past the flaws and be happy as you were. May you rest in peace and may we see you again one day.

I can’t stress enough how spot on you guys are with helping some of us fans crack the code to questions and feelings we’ve had for decades. The fact you even bring up how he looks brown off stage Vs light skinned on stage in the mid to late 80s truly shows how embedded you guys are to us fans. Because we all tried to make sense of it and find better understanding as well.

I remember being so confused when I saw Michael in his later years. At the time, I had only seen the Thriller music video. My mom explained his skin disease.

Michael Jackson was perfect with both dark and light skin .... as a child when I watched his videos I didn't notice any difference he could be light or dark for me he was always unique the greatest and still is.👑

For people who are saying they are insecure about their skin tones is okay. You don’t have to change to be lighter or darker we are created the shade given. People like Micheal had a skin condition meaning he had no other choice but to even the tone out with makeup to match the color his skin was getting or in other words kept the natural vitiligo look. We all are beautiful human beings luv u all❤️also pls do not tan or bleach every single time if you choose to lighten or darken ur skin it causes skin cancer.

Hes still a black man regardless and people should have respected that he had this condition.

You have to think bro he is a big international superstar and the media and world was less accepting he has to do it honestly. Ignorant people don't believe he had it even though it's evidence 👑💯 love you mike

All the changes with Michael Jackson's features, his immense shyness and comments he made both verbally and in writing about himself makes me sad about the world in general. He's just a more famous example of how people are forced to hate who they are and what they look like. The way they are born. The qualities and features that make each of us unique. This society has a mission to not allow people to be comfortable in their own skin. Love you Michael.

I have a theory that even though he genetically had vitiligo, the whole issue got out of hand after the Pepsi burn which put him in enormous stress which may have accelerated the process

She sat and cried. How much purity and love was in these songs. Almost all texts are about love for children. His voice, so gentle and charming, which does not speak, but cries about human cruelty, anger and hatred! Michael broadcasts that he is not omnipotent, but will do everything possible in this world to make it cleaner, brighter and happier. Thank you dear for being with us. You continue to live in our hearts!

It’s crazy cause growing up as a kid we never thought about it. It never crossed my mind that he looked different from Thriller to Bad, he was still Michael Jackson. Even now showing my 4 yr old daughter his videos she’s never asked why does he look different. She just knows that’s the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I think there’s a beauty in that no matter how he looked we just saw him!

If you love one version of Michael Jackson (be it the Bad era or the Thriller era or the Jackson 5 era or the HIStory era etc, etc) you love all versions of Michael Jackson. Its strange but true.

He started having the patches during the thriller era , so yeah it definitely took more than 3-4 years for drastic change in skin colour, those acne creams and spf left a white base , and definately worsened the state of his skin . That redness on his face looked like he had harshly exfoliated his face probably due to acne insecurities he had , or had a terrible reaction to some product. It's sad that the vitiligo skipped one generation in his family and Michael was the only one who had the worst of it , Jermaine had on his thigh , and clearly it didn't spread that much lucky for him .

Michael Jackson will always be a black icon. End of story.

Poor guy, he had many things going for him like his extreme talent and wealth but he was also disadvantaged by his numerous health conditions and life traumas, I honestly feel bad for him. He was a big part of my childhood and his music still inspires me as a 29 year old man. I hope if there is a heaven he's performing for all the people up there, I love you Michael.

Every time I see a Michael Jackson transformation video, I always hope it doesn’t end the way it does

I have vitiligo, and I underwent treatment with monobenzone to even out the color. As far as I know Michael also had this treatment.

I found his statement to Oprah to be the most truthful thing he may have ever said about his skin, when he says something like "people don't care when others tan to become other than what they are". I read into that statement as a confession of sorts. I really don't care if he lied, did or didn't have vitiligo, he should do what makes him happy, at the end of the day it really is nobody's business if he bleached his skin or not.

Media destroyed this man systematically

I bet it was weird af being a MJ fan back in the 80s and seeing in real time how his complexion changed after Thriller. Being a 96 baby and growing up with the Invincible era MJ. I thought he was a white man until I saw the Thriller MV later on. It’s so sad that such a kind hearted soul had to deal with so much issues throughout his lifetime and many of it being out of his control

pretty sad. you can see the self consciousness in his face and people kept asking him about it. he seemed like such a friendly guy.

It wasn't as outspoken then, im white and have vitiligo so it's not as recognizable. But it covers my legs and arm pits as well as other parts of my body. It has come out more recently and has been more acceptable. I cant imagine what Michael went through, In front of the world.

mj's dark skin tone during those bad era rehearsals and private photos suited him better than the makeup

It is different when you are not in the spotlight, Michael was so famous and all eyes of the whole world were on him.No wonder he wanted to look perfect, I really feel sorry for him these tabloids were picking on every aspect of his life. He had so many health conditions to fight with plus he was a very sensitive person and he still kept going.I love you Michael. Thank you@The Detail for another amazing video and creating great MJ fans community. Can’t wait for the next video 🙂

Great job as always "the detail"! Anxiously waiting for part two 👍💖

I grew up in the 80s on Michael Jackson and didn’t know anything about plastic surgery, vitiligo etc…. I just remember when the bad album came out and saw his pic on that album. We were all like “wow, what happened to Michael?” As late as 1989 and 1990, I remember Bad concert footages where he looked just like Thriller and Off the Wall MJ after he sweated off the makeup or whatever he had on - and there were no pale spots anywhere. His face structure was changing though with his plastic surgeries (chin implants, nose etc) But he def did something in the early 90s that permanently changed his pigmentation. I think he was a troubled man with self image issues vitiligo or not. I was an obsessed young MJ fan and probably too young to comprehend whatever was going on. The greatest performer ever anyway. RIP.

I love this channel. It’s so nice to watch videos that are respectful, yet do not insult our intelligence by ignoring facts. Keep up the amazing work!

I really appreciate how this channel is unbiased and making all the effort to present the truth. Well done!

He also had lupus…which often times gives the patient a reddish butterfly rash. So he might have also been using make up to conceal the rash as well. People tend to judge when they don’t know the underlying conditions that people might be suffering!

2:06 the picture in the right was edited by myself back in 2018, I explained I did that with the purpose of explaining how his vitiligo would look like if he had no makeup on. So it was already known it is an edited picture, and not meant to be used as a real one, but many fans did, that's why you said it was "debunked".

Thanks so much @ the detail people have said all sorts about this man's skin disease.... the last quote was quite sad.. RIP Gone but not forgotten.

His father verbally abused him for his looks, he had a hard time accepting his own looks by drastically changing then, of coarse, people would think that he had bleached his skin. It is what it is. He was still admired for his music. It is what it is.

That is so sad, I can’t even imagine going through what he had to endure, please let’s not judge another unless you walk a mile in their shoes, unless you went through what he did, you’ll never really understand how he felt, the toll it took on him, and just to bring himself some level of comfort, what he did to relieve and/or escape it. I can only say, wow what strength of character he has, especially knowing that he would never be a white man no matter what. Personally I think that he should have been even more proud of himself, for overcoming. Rest In Peace. Mr. Jackson, rip, what a hell of a life you had.

Wow, I just realized that this entire channel is dedicated to Michael Jackson.

you really did a lot of great research in this video and the other one or two about his appearance. great work and editing

I never cared how he looked. He made great music and danced like no other. He always had that beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes.

7:50 - 9:40 woah, insane how you found this information. In my 13+ years of studying and obsessing over this man I didn't know about this period of time and how his skin color truly looked

When it comes to skin lighting I think michael was saying he didn't just do it to be white, I think I was trying to say he did it because he had to. Thriller Michael jackson is a mad handsome guy btw!

He was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my entire life, no matter what his skin color was ❤ We love you Michael ❤️❤️❤️

I grew up with Michael's music I don't care what he did or didn't do on the outside. I watched him because I loved his talent and his heart was kind . He had enough pain he didn't need to be judged for his looks, just for his King of Pop talent and he wore it to the fullest.

He is the mirror,of the universe…No nudity or bullshit ,just a properly dressed gu sitting on a stool for three minutes, singing with his amazing voice..He is, beyond all time ,an angelic heart,the only thing that saddens me is that we have not been able to hold him..Thank you for KİNG MJJ🎩

I feel so pained for Michael though he's no more. I can imagine what he went through. I've happened to have disliked myself alot too and tried dealing with my insecurities by myself. I've been mocked at for having more or less of some parts of my body and it's been so traumatizing that at times I don't want to step out of the house. Seeing how courageous he was dealing with his shows despite the critics really encourages me. To an extent I think maybe he was bullied if not he won't have noticed the changes, and that's why he took the initiative of changing alot on his skin.

As a child, I didn't understand much, but MJ's skin was very normal to me. I never thought negatively about it. I just accepted what he looked liked in each era because he was still Michael Jackson

Com certeza durante os primeiros anos do vitiligo a pele dele devia voltar ao "normal" retomando a cor e depois clareando novamente, acho que com o tempo as manchas avançaram e acabou sendo muito mais fácil assumir o tom mais pálido, Michael sempre cobria o corpo o máximo que podia, sempre usando chapéu, óculos, maquiagem, é muito triste que ainda hoje as pessoas ainda continuem a fazer piadas com a aparência dele, ele fez o que podia para lidar com o vitiligo e o lupus, isso só me faz o admirar ainda mais.

Honestly, I didn't think he was being truthful about the vitiligo until I saw the They Don't Care About Us video based in Brazil. That's when I noticed the patches on his arm. Also years later, I saw a home video where he was dancing outside. It looked like it was between the Thriller & Bad era because his skin was brown, but he had white patches on his hands.

Micheal Jackson is forever 🌸🌼🥰👏💞🌷👑😄💙😘

Michael Jackson is the strongest person I know, he was a genius yet he had too many hurdles to jump, his health, his choices, nobody could ever do all that in 50 years! Black or white he looked cool, and his videos are beautiful, I will always love him no matter what!

Your work is so meticulous. It impresses me every single video. Thank you.

Love this channel!❤️

Poor Michael why does vitiligo as to occurred for him?😔 and I find it sad that what colorism has done to the black community.

Wait I find your explanation about Thriller era so fascinating and eye-opening. He wasn’t trying to be lighter with lightening products, he was going too far with acne scarring treatments. Just like how he went too far with his nose, he didn’t know how to stop. Because in the 70s he was obsessed with both his acne and his nose from being made fun of. This makes so much sense. But I’m just confused on when exactly the struggle went from wanting an even complexion to battling vitiligo. I thought for the longest time that he battled vitiligo since the Off the wall era based on some photos that I know now were just perceived the wrong way by the fan community. I then realized that and the fact that he wasn’t actually diagnosed with vitiligo until 1986. Is it possible the acne scarring treatments induced a more vicious spreading of vitiligo when he probably only had a few spots on his body originally? I do know there are photos of him with almost unnoticeable vitiligo on his fingertips as a child and I do know that oddly enough it’s usually the groin area where people have the most vitiligo. That might’ve been the extent for him all his life up until 1986 when he realized it was a serious condition that was spreading and needed evaluating. Which once again not sure if it was aging or was he inducing it? Either way he started out always having a small amount of vitiligo and it’s just so amazing how he was able to lighten his skin so much BECAUSE those products work best on people with vitiligo. Without vitiligo he wouldn’t have been able to become the pale shade that he became. He was evening out his scars which in turn made him lighter than it would for the average black man because he had the underlying condition vitiligo (I’m kind of repeating myself at this point but I’m just trying to understand this fully). So it seems for the most part wasn’t even intended, right? I don’t know I think he only desired an even complexion and he thought getting lighter helped, and he ended up just making his vitiligo condition look worse. It’s really unfortunate. He went from obsessively(!) evening out his acne scars to obsessively evening out vitiligo. That’s the conclusion to me. This video just changed my ENTIRE perspective about his vitiligo, acne, and lupus and I’ve been a fan all my life.

An enlightening, revealing video, rich in details and truthful information. What we saw here demystifies the entire issue surrounding his skin. Congratulation on the video.

My older sis has vitiligo and lupus. My mom found a patch on her eye when she was 12. No one could figure this out and this was the damn 80's. She wasn't diagnosed with Lupus until 1998 after my nephew's death. Hers is noticeable, but my sister is lighter in skin tone than both Winnie and Michael. No matter how you want to see it, no one understands something like vitiligo and Lupus. He was treated like a freak by the media. Why would he want to tell them the truth when he did and they still didn't believe him. I don't blame him. He didn't have to hate himself. With the world and his father constantly being on his case about his looks, vitiligo and the debilitating disease that Lupus is, were not a help for someone with a deeply scared mental view of himself. No one needs to fess up about anything. I was young when his skin was fully white and I never said anything and I was born in 96. It could be bc of my sister, but I was never interested in his looks as much as his music and the videos. He was still a black man to me. The same thing he told people many of times and they still thought this man wanted to be white. So I don't blame him at all. They wouldn't listen then, why keep repeating yourself?

I love this channel it’s so informative and also not at unrealistic or bias about Michael and his life you guys do a great deal of research and are always on the mark 💜

Everything in this video was things I was wondering about. I would do a lot of image research. This video fed that curiosity perfectly.

I grew up always knowing Michael was a black man even with "white" skin and with zero knowledge of the Jackson dynasty. He was an entertainer whose physical image was just as critical to his success as his likability, savvy, and talent. It is obvious that he used lightening treatments to brighten and lighten his complexion. Because he started doing this during a time when it was uncommon for darker-skinned celebrities to lighten their complexions, it seemed bizarre and self-hating. However, it is not uncommon today for celebrities of all skin tones to lighten their skin. Procedures and products are far more advanced now, so many fly under the radar. I hate that people are still so critical about the changes to his face and skin, albeit drastic. He lived a very different kind of life that few can relate to. That life came with pressures, stresses, and a whole heap of crap that would kill the average person long before 50, really. We need to stop idealizing his life and start appreciating it for what it was - a spectacular, otherworldly human experience. Once in a lifetime.

He only revealed that to his mother and sister, Janet. Janet knew all along as they were the closest siblings. Their mother, Katherine Jackson once mentioned how he at one point confessed about it to her in mid 80s in their family home and also to Janet, when she was around 22.

Love you MJ forever 💕

Very thorough take on MJ's skin. Great job. One thing that you may have missed is the 1991 song 'Word to the Badd!! by Jermaine Jackson that was leaked in 1991. It was and angry declaration directed towards MIchael with lyrics..."Once you were made, you changed your shade, was your color wrong?... could not turn back, it's a known fact, you were too far gone."

Very interesting, thank you, so difficult for him being constantly in the spotlight 😪👑🌻❤

Майкл говорил своей дочери: "помни, ты - чёрная". Принц унаследовал болезнь отца. Так что все, кто сомневаются в отцовстве Майкла, пусть заткнутся. МДж самый крутой мужчина на Земле. ✌

Oh my goodness🤦🏾‍♂️. Even after the autopsy was shown confirming his vitiligo, some people in the comments still believe he lied about it.

I love voice over person. I'm glad some videos still feature them. That's not a knock on anything or anyone else though. Classy video once again. I love this channel.

Я люблю и ценю его за талант, а не цвет кожи.

We the Fans never stop Loving Michael

Michael aveva vitiligo, Solo che ci sono stati persone, che non hanno creduto che Michael avessi quella malattia. Per me Michael era sempre bellissimo. Ha sempre avuto e avrà per sempre il suo posto speciale nel mio cuore.

I only wish we can begin to tell everyone in our circles that we love and accept them the way they look! MJ could have had a better self esteem if he heard those words of acceptance over and over and over again! I'm in my late 40s and grew up hearing about MJ even in Nigeria. I never really listened to his songs but of course they were regularly aired on many of our radio and television channels and I remembered well the day I noticed his skin colour change, I was somehow irritated. But recently as an adult, I stumbled on his bio on UKposts and I literally wept: because of how much he was misunderstood and because he's no longer here by the time the world got to understand his condition. I wish he was here to hear some of the good things people say about him just because they had a better knowledge of his secret pains. Two things: 1. Don't die in silence and don't live for people. Accept who you are, no matter what. 2. Love genuinely and accept people irrespective of what they look like and ensure you regularly verbalise your acceptance of them. Cheers!

It started in the thriller era because on the victory tour in Toronto when performing human nature you can see it on his hands and fingertips. You can also notice it during the 84 grammys on his fingers.

Let’s not forget his father used to say to him that he was “too black” and had a “huge nose”. It doesn’t surprise me in the least even though it is deeply heartbreaking that he carried those words with him always and they distorted his self image forever, making him change his appearance so much. It wasn’t a race thing as it was a colorism thing. He saw nothing wrong with being black in itself but rather his own complexion because his father put that into his brain at a young age. RIP 🤍

I think he still loved being black but there is such a thing as texturism, featurism, and colorism. That doesn't mean he hates being black but he hates himself in certain features.

This channel has some great objective viewpoints. Keep it up

Michael Jackson was black and beautiful all the way, even in his death, La Toya said he looked fabulous at his funeral.

*_-Thank you Michael Jackson for staying strong!-_*

I think his skin was definitely effected by vitiligo. Even tho I wished he kept his darker skin I understand this probably heavily effected one of the most popular individuals the world ever seen.

The change of skin tone only intensifies the other worldly quality of Michael

This man will always be fascinating to me. No matter how much information comes out, it's still so unclear what the full truth is. He always wanted to be a mystery, and he a achieved it

Michael was so strong and resilient. Despite of everything he kept moving forward. Everything about Michael was magic......

I think this has been your greatest work to date. The investigations and evidence in this video were amazing

Can't wait for part two.

While there was a great amount of Love for Michael, The world did him so dirty it's DISGUSTING. I wish more time was spent loving him for who he was and what he did for the world as far as Music.

Thank you for sharing.

Doesn't matter. At the end of the day he is the greatest artist that ever lived and was a pure soul ❤️ RIP michael jackson 🕊🕊

Dermatology resident here. At the time there was no effective treatment for vitiligo. Even today we JUST started using very newly developed JAK-inhibitors. In my country they haven’t been approved yet. I have vitiligo patients every week who I have to inform that unfortunately we cannot offer any effective treatment. There are topical treatments called Tacrolimus and Pimecrolimus that can work a little bit if treatment starts early and specifically works best on the face. UVB-light treatment can also be attempted as a treatment but doesn’t really work that well either. Michael Jackson likely chose to even out his skin tone with skin bleaching products. That’s how he chose to deal with this. That’s his right and his business.

This is what we need to be discussing right now! Bless you and all your coof jooce damaged followers on their beds.

It appears as if Michael was receiving Chemical peeling treatments and deep microdermabrasions. It looks like sunscreen on his face, which can leave a white cast behind. Most patients are advised to use sunscreen after receiving chemical peeling treatments and microdermabrasions.

My aunt had vitiligo and she was white so the whole hiding your race thing was a horrible take by many. My aunt had to wear uncomfortable heavy makeup to hide the splotchiness of her skin.

Excellent Job! I think Micheal himself would approve of this. You've explained every single thing he was going through but couldn't tell us cos how insecure it made him. Its sad to imagine how sad and broken he most likely was on the inside while still dedicating himself to making us all Happy😢

Just fyi if someone without vitiligo uses topical medications for it, not only will it be ineffective, but if it happens to depigment even a small patch of a normal person’s skin, it will return back to its original color since it only affects the epidermis and nothing deeper or follicular. A person with vitiligo is already loosing their melanocytes so they will not experience repigmentation of their skin when using topical medications, it just speeds up the inevitable. Michael Jackson had to have vitiligo because his skin transformation is literally impossible without it.