✗ False. He didn’t bleach without a medical indication.

🗸 True. he bleached his skin to treat his Vitiligo.

People assume bleaching healthy skin is the same for someone who has vitiligo and someone who doesn’t. But because vitiligo is an autoimmune disease the immune system reacts differently to bleaching. That’s why bleaching is much more difficult for healthy individuals and fraud with problems that are hard or impossible to overcome.

Vitiligo Clinic & Research Center:

But in most cases, using this [Benoquin] cream doesn’t work unless you have vitiligo, so it is not as simple as someone “wanting to look white” and using the cream.

So there is no question that Michael Jackson had vitiligo, by his own admission and according to his autopsy after his death. He did appear to use Benoquin to help depigment his skin, but not because he “wanted to be white”, but as an FDA-approved treatment for his vitiligo.

Dermatologist on why bleaching doesn’t work in healthy individuals:

TLDR:

• Bleaching skin to turn white: It doesn’t work that way
• Doesn’t work for 30% of patients
• Repigmentation occurs almost always
• Lips almost never lose complete pigmentation
• Inner corners of his eyes (caruncle) changed their color. You can not bleach eyelids/inner eye without threat to eyesight.
• Fingernails sign of bleaching: Fingernails of both Black and white people are pink. MJ’s sometimes discolored nails are due to lupus

This is called depigmentation. We use special treatments to down-regulate pigmentation activity in healthy skin to even out skin tone, eventually making skin color uniform and the contrast less sharp. So yes, technically it is “bleaching” you could say

Skin-Whitening Infopage:

In individuals without vitiligo who bleach their skin with Benoquin it is highly likely that repigmentation occurs after a while, the skin turns darker again. This also happens at times with vitiligo patients, but it happens sooner and more aggressively in people without vitiligo. Since vitiligo is an autoimmune-disease and people with a healthy immune system react differently, people without vitiligo get spots and patches of darker skin sooner. If that happens, it is likely renewed use of bleaching agents will have no effect, because the skin of healthy individuals has become resistent to even higher dosages of bleaching.¹“Spots and patches of pigmentation will start to appear over previously white skin, leading to a patchy appearance. […] to bleach these re-pigmented spots may have no effect […] because the newly re-emerged melanocytes would have become resistant to monobenzone”

Open question: Why would someone who bleaches their skin in order to turn white do it only partially? Photos and videos of Michael with 2 skin tones are clearly documented. Around 1983-1993 his face was often significantly lighter than his hands. This is more indicative of a person who evens out any patches, when there is more light skin on their face than their hands, whose intent however is not to actually change their complexion.

✗ mostly False.

After his death Benoquin, whose acting agent is MBEH, and hydroquinone were found in MJ’s house. Both are used to depigment skin. Major differences between them are that MBEH is more irreversible than hydroquinone and that it can also induce a systemic lightening reaction.²“several of them also had similar lesions on remote areas that did not contact the gloves […]. The ability of MBEH to permanently remove skin pigment”,³“After a prolonged exposure to the gloves […] the pigmentation changes would start showing up in other areas of the skin that did not touch the gloves. This indicated that a systemic reaction was occurring. […] One important difference between monobenzone and hydroquinone is that monobenzone results in a more permanent depigmentation and can cause a systemic lightening reaction. When monobenzone is used for a period of time it can cause depigmentation to occur in areas of the body distant from where it was applied.” Because of its permanent nature MBEH/benoquin is the strongest vitiligo treatment available while hydroquinone also treats hyperpigmentation and acne scars. ⁴“MBEH is a derivative of hydroquinone. Unlike hydroquinone, it almost always causes irreversible depigmentation, as it results in death of melanocytes (the cells that make skin pigment or melanin)”,⁵“In general monobenzone use is limited to vitiligo and in studies for treating melanoma. Hydroquinone is the skin lightening ingredient used in most other cases.”

FDA Benoquin Cream 20% Label, 2003:

Benoquin Cream 20% contains a potent depigmenting agent and is not a cosmetic skin bleach. [emphasis mine; JS] Use […] is contraindicated in any conditions other than disseminated vitiligo. [It] frequently produces irreversible depigmentation, and it must not be used as a substitute for hydroquinone. […] Benoquin Cream 20% is indicated for final depigmentation in extensive Vitiligo. [It] is applied topically to permanently depigment normal skin surrounding vitiliginous lesions in patients with disseminated (greater than 50 percent of body surface area) idiopathic vitiligo.

Differences between benoquin and hydroquinone:

Hydroquinone provides skin lightening that may be considered more reversible than the depigmentation that occurs with MEBH [sic, Benoquin; JS]

Hydroquinone cream:

Hydroquinone is the gold standard for skin lightening when the concern is sun spots, hyperpigmentation, acne scars, melasma, and more. […] Hydroquinone treatment is reversible in most cases.

Dermatologist on Depigmentation Therapy in vitiligo:

This is called depigmentation. We use special treatments to down-regulate pigmentation activity in healthy skin to even out skin tone, eventually making skin color uniform and the contrast less sharp. So yes, technically it is “bleaching” you could say

Depigmentation Therapy for vitiligo:

Monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone. MBEH or monobenzone [Benoquin; JS] is the most commonly used depigmenting agent used in vitiligo. It is the only depigmentation treatment for extensive vitiligo that has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Agency, United States of America).

Benoquin as a treatment for Michael Jackson’s vitiligo:

So there is no question that Michael Jackson had vitiligo, by his own admission and according to his autopsy after his death. He did appear to use Benoquin to help depigment his skin, but not because he “wanted to be white”, but as an FDA-approved treatment for his vitiligo.

Health and appearance of Michael Jackson Wikipedia:

Shortly following Jackson’s death, tubes of Benoquin and hydroquinone were found in Jackson’s home. Both creams are commonly used to treat vitiligo; David Sawcer said some patients with vitiligo remove dark areas of skin when most of their skin has become pale. Darkening depigmented skin is also extremely difficult.

✗ mostly False.

Bleaching your skin with MBEH/benoquin creme can result in getting chemical vitiligo. ⁶“[The] depigmenting effect of the chemical monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone (MBEH) […] these chemicals appear to induce melanocyte autoimmunity, this phenomenon should be known as “chemical-induced vitiligo””,⁷“diagnosed chemical leucoderma […] Monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone (MBEH), an antioxidant used in the rubber industry, was the offending agent. Subsequently, multiple cases of occupational leucoderma induced by phenolic compounds were reported from various countries.”,⁸“Monobenzone use on someone without vitiligo may end up creating a new “vitiligo” patient […] Often, someone without vitiligo who uses monobenzone in sufficiently high percentages (e.g. 20% monobenzone) and over a long period of time will have to be treated by a doctor as a new “vitiligo” patient as there exists no way yet to reverse the damage caused by monobezone.” Chemical vitiligo and vitiligo vulgaris are clinically and histologically indistinguishable. ⁹“Chemical-induced vitiligo is indistinguishable from vitiligo. […] Chemical leucoderma was previously conceptualized as a distinctly separate disease from vitiligo, which was conventionally accepted as an idiopathic one. Recent scientific exploration has proved beyond doubt that both the ailments are almost similar in etiology, clinical feature and histopathology.”,¹⁰“chemical-induced depigmentation is clinically and histologically indistinguishable from non-chemically induced vitiligo”

Benoquin and hydroquinone were found in MJ’s house. Of those two only benoquin is known to induce vitiligo.¹¹“Hydroquinone, a chemical structurally related to MBEH and frequently used in skin-lightening agents, has not been clearly implicated in inducing or exacerbating vitiligo when used for cosmetic purposes.” Someone can in theory use it, as a result get chemical vitiligo and then go on to use MBEH/benoquin cream and hydroquinone as a treatment for their now very real vitiligo.

For that to happen someone exposed to MBEH needs to have a genetic susceptibility to getting vitiligo. And if that is the case, in only 1 in 4 patients chemically induced vitiligo progresses to distant areas not exposed to chemicals. This would have to include areas like eyelids and lips.

“Chemical leucoderma denotes an acquired vitiligo-like depigmentation triggered by repeated exposure to specific chemical compounds […]. These chemicals are toxic for melanocytes only in subjects having specific genetic susceptibility to vitiligo.”

In chemical vitiligo, loss of melanocytes starts at the site of exposure but in approximately 26% of the patients spreads to distant areas

If the disease doesn’t spread in and of itself there are limits to how far you can come with bleaching in order to achieve a uniformly white skin. One factor is that certain areas are impossible to bleach, for example the lips and the area around the eyes. Only vitiligo can completely depigment those body parts which are depigmented in Michael.

So unless his chemically induced vitiligo happened to completely take away the pigment around his eyes and on his lips, for which the likelihood is only 26%, there is nothing he could have done with bleaching.

Vitiligo isn’t just about your skin turning white. Pigment loss can affect various areas of your body including your mucosa (genitals and mouth) and eyes.

First of all, MBEH does not work well on lips. It’s not supposed to be used on the lips/eyes for starters, but even when it is used, there is never ever complete depigmentation. […] even today with all the newer options we have pigmented lips are a huge challenge.

The only way one could lose total pigmentation of the lips is through vitiligo vulgaris. […] I am not saying he never used MBEH on his lips, he may have during his depigmentation phase. But even if he did, loss of total pigment only happens when the disease catches up with you anyway.

More on that in point #1 MJ did bleach his skin

The autopsy report attests chronic lung inflammation.¹²“The above findings reflect a depletion of structural and functional reserves of the lung. Reserve depletion is the result of widespread respiratory bronchiolitis and chronic lung inflammation in association with fibrocollagenous scars and organizing/recanalizing thromboemboli of small arteries.”

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), Forensic Consultant’s Report, 2. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

🗸 True.

-> Consider one of the most pro-MJ sources in the 2005 court documents, Macauley Culkin’s testimony. Even he stated that he slept in the same bed with Michael.

“7 Q. How many nights do you believe you spent
8 alone in Michael Jackson’s room and in his bed,
9 alone with Michael Jackson, between the ages of 9
10 and 14?
11 A. It couldn’t have been more than like — it
12 was a handful of times. It couldn’t have been more
13 than, like, five times, four times.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Cross-Examination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9853, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

On the nature of these sleepovers:

24 Q. All right. So is it safe to say that up
25 until and through your 13th year, you stayed with
26 Mr. Jackson in his room?
27 A. On occasion —
28 Q. More frequent —
[Page Break]
1 A. On occasion I’d fall asleep there or
2 wherever. It wasn’t really like a thing to, like,
3 “Let’s go to sleep in a particular place.” On
4 occasion I’d end up falling asleep there. I’d fall
5 asleep anywhere.

He didn’t find anything weird about it, nor did his parents ever interfere.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Cross-Examination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9847-9848, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

🗸 True.

Macauley Culkin Testimony:

20 Q. Were you ever in Mr. — in Mr. Jackson’s
21 bedroom overnight while another boy was present in
22 that room, other than your brothers?
23 A. On occasion, the other kids there that —
24 like I said, some of them were introduce — like, I
25 was introduced to as, like, cousins or family
26 friends and stuff like that. And they’d bring their
27 kids there, and then — same as me. They would —
28 they would play with me, and we’d fall asleep
[Page Break]
1 anywhere, sometimes his bedroom, sometimes in the
2 theater, sometimes anywhere.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Re-Crossexamination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9850-9851, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

🗸 True.

-> This was found during a raid in 1993. There was no evidence the book had ever been used by anyone else. (e.g. fingerprints) Despite that the prosecution wanted to use it as a source for his interest in that kind of material in 2005.

-> Michael had inscribed the book. The inscription elaborates on his reason for keeping it, which runs contrary to the pedophelia narrative.

Testimony Detective R.F.Smith:

26 Q. Did you seize those two books?
27 A. Yes, I did.
28 Q. From where?
[Page Break]
1 A. These books were seized from a cabinet
2 within Michael Jackson’s closet in the master
3 bedroom.
[Page Break]
10 Q. Was that file cabinet locked?
11 A. Yes, it was.

People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Direct Examination Testimony Smith, R. F., 29.4.2005. 8162-8164, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

Defense Attorney Robert M. Sanger:

14 MR. SANGER: […]
17 We still object on the grounds that this is
18 remote in time. We have books from — seized in
19 1993 with regard to events that allegedly occurred
20 in 2003, so the probative value of these books is
21 minimal at best, and it’s outweighed by the
22 confusion to the jury, prejudicial effect, and
23 everything else. There’s got to be some connection
24 in time. It’s just plain stale to bring in
25 something from that far back and try to use it by
26 way of not much more than innuendo at this time.
27 These books were not shown to anybody. There’s no
28 evidence they were shown to anybody. No evidence
[Page Break]
1 they were shown to minors. They were locked in a
2 cabinet.

People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Direct Examination, 29.4.2005. 8165-8166, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

About Michael’s interest in the book:

14 MR. SANGER: Okay. On 841, if you look at
15 that, it appears to be Mr. Jackson’s own
16 inscription, and he says, “Look at the true spirit
17 of happiness and joy in these boys’ faces. This is
18 the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will
19 always dream of. This is the life I want for my
20 children. M.J.”

People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Direct Examination, 29.4.2005. 8172, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

🗸 True.

Trial Testimony Macauley Culkin:

5 Q. All right. Is there — was there at the
6 time an alarm on his door going into his bedroom?
7 A. There was like a walkway kind of thing where
8 if somebody was approaching the door, it would kind
9 of like “ding-dong, ding-dong.”
10 Q. All right. Do you remember hearing any
11 “ding-dongs, ding-dongs” as your father came into
12 the room?
13 A. When anyone would approach the room, yeah,
14 you’d hear this kind of — soft kind of alarm, like
15 “ding-dong” kind of thing.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Re-Crossexamination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9861, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

🗸 True in sofar as Macauley culkin was involved.

Macauley Culkin stated, that MJ had an open-door policy that applied to everyone.

10 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever think Mr.
11 Jackson was somehow trying to exclude your family
12 from his room?
[…]
19 THE WITNESS: Absolutely not. It was a real
20 open-door policy just with the entire ranch.
21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Okay. That applied to
22 your family as well as you?
23 A. Yes, everyone.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Direct Examination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9824, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

The bedroom door was open, too.

25 A. Yeah. He had a very open-door policy. His
26 bedroom door at that time was never locked. Anyone
27 could walk in.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Re-Crossexamination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9862, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

Everyone could come and go as they wanted.

8 A. Well, no doors were ever really locked in
9 his place. It wasn’t like — you know, you could
10 always — you could always come — he always told
11 me, “You can just come to the ranch whenever you
12 want.” And every door was open, and you can go
13 anywhere you wanted, and that included the bedroom.
14 Q. And did you feel that adults were free to
15 come in and out as well as children?
16 A. Absolutely.

Source: People v Michael Joe Jackson 2005. Redirect Examination Trial Testimony Culkin, Macauley, 11.5.2005. 9868, via Court-Transcript. Retrieved October 11, 2024.

✗ mostly False.

Chandler said Michael was circumcised. He was not.

The genitalia are those of an adult male. The penis appears uncircumcised.

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), 5. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

Additionally there is a note with a drawing and description. This note is not the actual court document but if it is at all authentic, might have been used in preparation for the later testimony. The note describes blotchy skin and what looks like ideas rather than statements. The author is either someone who has seen Michael’s penis or someone who knows that Michael had vitiligo making an educated guess.

This note can not be authenticated, since it was originally published by Victor Gutierrez, who is not a credible source, in the book “Michael Jackson was my Lover”. In it he claims that the note was given to him by the Chandler family.

Source: The original version of the Note which is attributed to Jordan/Evan Chandler

What did Jordans testimony actually entail and what is known about that:

The Smoking Gun, a now-defunct website very close to the prosecution, claimed to have seen a sealed affidavit by former Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department deputy Deborah Linden that “was filed in 1993 to secure court permission to photograph Jackson’s private parts”.

Chandler gave them a roadmap to Jackson’s below-the-waist geography, which, he said, includes distinctive “splotches” on his buttocks and one on his penis, “which is a light color similar to the color of his face.” The boy’s information was so precise, he even pinpointed where the splotch fell while Jackson’s penis was erect, the length of the performer’s pubic hair, and that he was circumcised.

Source: The Smoking Gun (2009). The Case Against Michael Jackson. Retrieved November 19, 2024 via Wayback Machine.

A Conversation that allegedly took place between Evan Chandler and Jordan’s lawyer indicates that the vitiligo was a “no-lose” opportunity for them – if the description was not accurate you could always say the Vitiligo had progressed and changed the placement of blotches, if it was correct it was a lucky guess. They just had to be in the general ballpark (pun intended).

Evan Chandler talking to Larry Feldman, Jordan’s lawyer in his civil trial against MJ, on November 29, 1993:

“Oh, yeah, Lauren Weis* told me today that this disease Michael says he’s got, vitiligo, that it’s capable of changing anywhere you look, so that anything Jordie says is irrelevant. It can change very quickly with this disease.“
“Shit, these guys seem to have an answer for everything.”
“No, that’s good for us!”
‘Why?”
“Because if he’s right, he’s right. And if he’s wrong, we’ve got an explanation!”
“Ha!”
“Yeah, it’s a no-loser for us.”

Source: Raymond Chandler – All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-Up (Windsong Press Ltd, September, 2004).

✗ False.

According to a long-standing myth and MJ’s doctor Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson was chemically castrated. He was supposedly forced by his father as a 12-year-old to get hormone injections in order to maintain his high-pitched singing voice and to treat his acne.

Castration:

• stops most testosterone production

Castration after puberty:

• makes the sex organs shrink and stop functioning, ending sperm formation and sexual interest and behaviour¹⁵ https://www.britannica.com/topic/castration

Castration before puberty:

• prevents development of functioning adult sex organs ¹⁶https://www.britannica.com/topic/castration

• retains the vocal range of prepubescence:

A subject of castration who is altered before the onset of puberty will retain a high voice, as well as the effects of hypogonadism, which include non-muscular build, an infantile penis, a lack of a beard […]. He may be taller than average, with long limbs, […] They may have a low sex drive or none at all.¹⁷https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato

Autopsy Report:

The genitalia are those of an adult male.

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), 5. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

The right (slide L) and left (slide M) testes show active spermatogenesis with the usual number of Leydig cells.

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), Microscopic Report, 2. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

Michael’s real voice is deep. It is a baritone.

✗ Mostly False.

Lately people argue that Michael might have been straight, but he might additionally have been a pedophile. They cite examples of pedophiles who are married with kids.

There is plenty of evidence that Michael was into women. There is no evidence at all that he was sexually attracted to kids.

TL;DR: Studies show that most pedophiles do have significantly less sexual interest in adults than comparison groups.

There is a 1/4 chance he could be one of the remaining 25% for whom this is not true.

Meta-Analysis of 55 studies about Pedophelia and sexual interest

distinction:
PSOC = People who have sexually offended against children
Presumed Pedophile = includes non-offenders

those with presumed pedophilia, showed greater sexual interest in children (medium-large effects) and lower sexual interest in adults (small-medium effects) than comparison groups […] lack of sexual interest in adults of PSOC was larger than their sexual interest in children […] in 80.0% of the studies, PSOC showed less interest in adults than comparison groups. In the presumed pedophilic samples this decreased to 75.0%.

Schippers, E. E., Smid, W. J., & Hoogsteder, Larissa M. et al. (2023). Pedophilia is associated with lower sexual interest in adults: Meta-analyses and a systematic review with men who had sexually offended against children. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 69, 101813. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

✗ False.

According to Paul Gohranson, Arnold Klein’s former lover, Michael was unable to produce sperm, and thus, to have biological children.

Gohranson claimed Michael had told him that he was twice hit in the groin area by Joe Jackson, which resulted in permanent damage. Other sources say Joe kicked him or “stomped” on him. Michael supposedly said one testicle was “never the same again” and “enlarged”.

Autopsy Report:

Both testes are in the scrotum and are unremarkable and without trauma.

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), 7. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

The right (slide L) and left (slide M) testes show active spermatogenesis with the usual number of Leydig cells.

Rogers, C. (2009). Autopsy Report (Case No. 2009-04415 Jackson, Michael), Microscopic Report, 2. County of L.A., Department of Coroner. Retrieved October 12, 2024.

✗ False.

Some sources claim that Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Arnold Klein is the father of his oldest child, and maybe his second child.

Klein claimed to be a sperm donor. He never outright claimed to be a sperm donor for MJ, but he hinted at it.

-> You can not be a sperm donor when you have a serious medical condition like multiple sclerosis, which Arnold Klein had. You can also not be a sperm donor when you are gay.

Stanford University about Sperm Donation:

Only 5 percent of all male applicants who apply to be a sperm donor meet the criteria to donate sperm.  The following conditions immediately disqualify a potential donor from donating sperm:

• Men who have a history of certain diseases in the family (i.e. cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, etc.) cannot donate sperm.
• Homosexual men and men who have had sex with other men cannot donate sperm.

[…]

Applicants go through a rigorous screening process before they are cleared to donate sperm.  Donor screening consists of questionnaires, blood screening, specimen screening, genetic analysis and a physical evaluation.  This process includes:

• An extensive family history (spanning in some cases, three generations), is taken and evaluated.
• Comprehensive interviews about sexual behavior, family background and reasons for participating in the sperm donation program.

Stanford University (2002). What Does Sperm Donation Involve? Retrieved November 12, 2024.

Arnold Klein’s Wikipedia page:

Following Jackson’s death, Klein claimed to be a sperm donor, but stated that he did not believe he was the biological father of Jackson’s children. However, Klein had multiple health problems such as multiple sclerosis, which would’ve prevented him from donating sperm as sperm donors are not allowed to donate if they have genetic disorders or other medical concerns.

Wikipedia (2024). Arnold Klein. Retrieved November 12, 2024.

Arnold Klein had multiple sclerosis.

Arnold Klein was in a live-in relationship with a man. (Not saying there is anything wrong with that, on the contrary, just that he couldn’t possibly be a sperm donor.)