So we are onto part 2 of the Justice blog. In this blog I will shed some light on Michael Jackson’s appearance, the rumours which surrounded him and his cruel punishment by the police during his trial.

Let’s start with his appearance. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Michael’s skin tone appeared to get noticeably lighter with people suggesting that he was bleaching his skin or has had plastic surgery to make him ‘white’. However, there is no such surgery for alternating skin colour or else genetic disorders such as Albinism would be cured. Instead, he had a rare skin disease known as Vitiligio which causes depigmentation of the skin and affects 3% of the world’s population. This is the reason Michael had to carry around an umbrella when outdoors as people with Vitiligo easily blister from the sun and can develop skin cancer.

However on the issue of plastic surgery, Michael did in fact have several operations on his face to change his appearance. This all started in 1984 when shooting a Pepsi commercial which went horribly wrong (see below). An explosion set his hair on fire and he ended up suffering from 2nd and 3rd degree burns to the face and scalp. This left the star in constant pain and needed painkillers to stop the agony. He would also require surgery on his face and head as a result.

Further spells of plastic surgery stemmed from constant physical abuse as a child from his father Joe. When part of the Jackson 5, if Michael or any of his family missed a step or messed up a routine, Joe was awaiting them with a belt or his fists. This led Michael to be so scared of his father who also constantly mocked Michael by calling him ‘Big Nose’. Therefore this abuse led him to have plastic surgery on his nose and face as he wanted to bear no resemblance to his father.

Rumours constantly circulated Michael’s life in the tabloids about his sexuality, sleeping in oxygen chambers, buying the bones of the Elephant man, claims that his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley (Elvis’ daughter) was a publicity stunt and that he was part of the Illuminati etc etc etc. All ridiculous and false. Michael was married twice and both wives claimed he was an excellent lover as well as completely heterosexual. He had 2 children with his second wife and another from a surrogate mother. In fact Lisa Marie and Michael split as she wasn’t ready to start a family. Could you imagine the musical genes that child would have had?

The oxygen chamber rumour started when a picture of Jackson lying down in a chamber when visiting a hospital to try it out, was circulated by the media as if he had one in his home and slept in it every night. He laughed off the notion of buying someones bones. The Illuminati rumour couldn’t be true as he was a Jehovah’s Witness (as his mother Katherine was one) up until his early twenties but became a devout Christian in his later years.

His response to these tabloid rumours was to hit back with the Grammy award winning video for his song “Leave Me Alone”

So as was mentioned last week in Part 1 the 14-week trial involving Jackson vs Arvizo in which Michael was cleared on all counts took it’s toll on the King of Pop. One of the reasons for this hardship was the fact that Michael was brutally harassed and embarrassed by the Santa Barbara police who raided his Neverland ranch. They destroyed his house leaving it a mess. They then strip searched Jackson and man handled him leaving him with several nasty bruises and a dislocated shoulder.

The policemen in question were also accused of locking him in the prison toilets where there were faeces all over the walls and taunting him. Surely there should be some Justice for their actions? No they were cleared without any questioning during the trial and the story went practically unnoticed in the papers. Would Michael have gotten away with such actions? I believe not – hence why the title of this blog says ‘Justice’.

The final part in the series will conclude next week with part 3 where I shall be discussing the events surrounding the King of Pop’s death.