Prince Jackson has revealed his dad Michael Jackson “had a lot of insecurity” about his skin condition.
The late King of Pop’s eldest child, 26, has opened up on his father’s experience of with vitiligo — a chronic disorder which causes patches of skin to lose its pigmentation — and how it caused his anxiety.
Appearing on the “Hotboxin With Mike Tyson” podcast, Prince said: “He had a lot of insecurity around, kind of looking blotchy in his appearance. So he wanted to see if he could smooth out his appearance, to help with his security on his physical appearance.”
Prince revealed when he was younger, his father “was always explaining” his condition.
Back in 1994, Michael — who died in 2009 — reflected on his vitiligo during an interview with Oprah Winfrey after his changing appearance and cosmetic surgery sparked speculation he was trying to alter his skin color.
He said at the time: “I have a skin disorder [with] the pigmentation of my skin. It is something I cannot help. When people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me. It’s a problem for me. I can’t control it. But what about all the millions of people who sit in the sun to become darker, to become other than what they are? Nobody says nothing about that.”
Meanwhile, Prince told Mike Tyson that as he’s grown up, he’s learned to “appreciate how unique and interesting” his childhood was, including growing up on the Neverland Ranch surrounded by animals including “elephants, tigers, lions, a lot of primates like monkeys, gorillas, orangutans.”
He added: “[My dad] loved animals when he was a kid. As he was making more money and more music, he was able to buy more animals.”
And now, almost 15 years after his father’s death, he is still learning about him as a person, as he continues to do “a lot of research” about Michael’s life on tour.
He said: “What impact does that have on you? To see a sea of people just singing your lyrics back to you and wanting to reach out and touch you. The impact of that has got to be very profound.”
