Quincy Jones with Michael Jackson 2001
from the Sunday Mail online, July 5, 2009
Quincy Jones blasts Michael Jackson’s excuses for turning white
by Lauren Crooks
MICHAEL JACKSON’S mentor has blasted the star’s “bull****” excuses for turning himself white.
Quincy Jones said he never believed Jacko’s claims he was suffering from rare skin condition vitiligo which caused bleaching to his skin.
Jones – who produced some of Jackson’s greatest hits, including Thriller – said the King of Pop had many chemical peels because he was not happy with the way he looked.
He compared the troubled star’s lies to those of a drug addict.
Jones said: “He was the most gorgeous guy but he obviously didn’t want to be black. You see his kids? It’s ridiculous. Chemical peels and all. I don’t understand it.
“He’d come up with, ‘Man, I promise you I have this disease’ and ‘I have a blister on my lungs’. I don’t believe any of that bull****.”
Jones, 76, said while he worked with Jackson they often rowed about his lies and they reminded him of stars who made up excuses about more traditional addictions like alcohol and drugs.
He said: “We talked about it all the time, the chemical peels and stuff. I couldn’t talk him out of it.
“I’ve been around junkies all my life. I’ve heard every excuse.”
Lisa's History Room 
[…] […]
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I, too, never believed in the “vitiligo” explanation. I have known people with vitiligo and none of whom ever ended up looking like Jackson. The history of “skin bleaching” in the African-American community is long and well known; Jackson was dealing, at a very low level, with the self-hatred and invalidation of the physicality of African-Americans. That struggle turned him into a freak. Grandiose and delusioned, he believed that he could pass off any excuse as true. Thanks Mr. Jones for talking sense. Jackson was a great artist. Unfortunately, he became quite self destructive. We don’t need the lies to love what he did. His artistry speaks for itself.
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I can’t belive that there are still people that belive in that junkie tabloids.. Of course he has a skin desease.. Have you ever seen a picture of him while he was changing his skin?! Was amazing but trilling.. So evident!of course he made some plastic surgery,but who is natural in hollywood? I stuck on this bull***. I love you micheal
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michael did have vitiligo. that’s why he started wearing one white glove. it showed up on his hand first. and he didn’t bleach his skin but he did have skin graphs to make all his skin one color.
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Ashley, you have a response to your reply from John on Lisa’s HIstory Room.
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I’d love to know the source of this info, Ashley. Also, has the disease of vitiligo emerged in other members of his family?
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john, there has been speculation that his children have vitiligo but I’m not sure if that’s true or not. his make-up artist confirmed that she had to use extra make-up to even his skin tone when it first started showing up on his hand, & oprah’s make-up artist said the same when he did an interview with her. there was also an interview with the woman who designed his first glove about his vitiligo.
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Thanks for your response, Ashley, First, I have sworn to indulge in no speculation, rumor spreading, or invasion of privacy of the children. They have the toughest of rows to hoe and should be protected. So, that’s not evidence I, personally, would spend time considering. Michael’s behaviour with his kids drew a lot of publicity but after the hell that broke loose at his death, his super-protectiveness suddenly makes sense. Also, while the make-up people may be telling the truth, it’s hearsay evidence. Or did they tell this to you directly? And do you know their reputation for honesty? As evidence this is a definite maybe. Why haven’t doctors or skin specialists stepped up to the plate to confirm or deny Jackson’s explanations about this disease? Why did he go white, rather than making himself up brown?!!! Speculation: Could it be that the response of those “doctors”, who hovered around him, was to execute some wildly expensive skin bleaching process on Michael? I had a brief, low-level performing career and was astonished at how quickly money-grubbers attached themselves to anyone who seemed ripe for picking. Michael bought summer homes for a lot of medical specialists, I spectulate.
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you’re right john. I do not know how honest they are. I’m just going by what I heard them say in their interview. in the interview they said they started out using a brown color to even out his skin, but the whiter color began to take up so much of his skin it was easier to use that color to blend. but again I don’t know how honest they are. also, michael’s dermatologist confirmed that he had vitiligo and lupus. he also suffered from chronic insomnia which is why he had doctors around to give him drugs every night. again all this information is from interviews I’ve seen of him or people that knew him. really michael and God are the only ones that know the absolute truth.
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michael did have vitiligo… he was this great guy who was constantly under the lime light and hence had to do something to deal with his disease… which is why he resorted to all kinds of cosmetic/plastic surgeries… and no matter whatever whoever says, he was the greatest musician of all times!!!! ANd he was undoubtedly theeee most famous person on the planet!!!!! Coming from India, i know kids living on the streets of Mumbai, who probably didnt know how to survive, but did know MICHAEL JACKSON and his songs!!
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Yug, Michael was indeed a great musician and will live in memory as one of the divinely blessed. There was magic and charm about him that could penetrate to the streets of Mumbai, Harlem, Toronto, Shanghai, Tokyo, and who knows where else in the world. But remember, Yug, Michael was an American. His origins were deep in the economic and social situation of African-America; a dissatisfaction with our physical appearance has been a hallmark, a shameful one, of our spiritual and physical life in this country.
But, I repeat: Whatever his mental, physical, and spiritual problems were, his amazing creativity managed to roar through in forms that captivate the world. However, I don’t think we should create myths about the man when that creative reality was so powerful and authentic. He was run off the tracks by an unfortunate set of circumstances and therefore made some bad decisions. So be it. We don’t deny him by acknowledging that. In fact we honor him more profoundly: his divine gifts could not be defeated or submerged by his circumstances. He struggled and left a legacy that will live on. Let’s honor who he really was as a human being—warts and all— instead of iconizing him out of existence . Good wishes and peace to you.
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Quincy Jones should stop spreading such malicious and hateful lies.
Of course MJ had Vitiligo; there is ample proof in quite a few pictures. You can see some of them here in this video: Michael Jackson and Vitiligo: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15TSEKXXIvI).
When a person has Vitiligo, the main goal is to depigment the pigmented skin, so that it will match the affected areas. This is done by through the use a depigmenting cream.
Anyone of any race can develop Vitiligo. It can continue to re-occur once the body has largely been originally depigmented, necessitating another round of treatment, which is why MJ is so pale. It seems that some people are still quite willing to believe the lies and disinformation about the man even after his death. It’s that type of behavior that helped to kill the man in the first place.
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The man killed himself.
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Jakkuioe/Sofia I must say that I am impressed by some of these pictures. There seem to be real evidence of a discoloration resembling the instances of vitiligo I’ve seen. I am on the edge of changing my opinion. I hope there is more photographic evidence to come.
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KalliopeSofia, Sorry, I meant to address you correctly but my fingers messed up!
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“The man killed himself.”
Of course MJ bears some culpability for his own demise. Anesthesia should never be used as a sleep aid. But there’s no denying that there are other factors in play here.
It’s common knowledge that Michael had trouble sleeping. Well, the never-ending denigrating of the man contributed to the problem. How easy would it have been for you to fall asleep if your reputation were being constantly slandered by malingering rumors and innuendos, even after your innocence has been proved? Knowing that whenever you awaken, baseless gossip and backbiting will be there to follow you? How would you bear up under such circumstances? How would you, how would any of us, try to kill the pain, the stress, under such circumstances? None of us can really say unless we’ve walked down that same road.
Not trying to relieve Mike of any culpability here, but damn, the man dealt with stuff that would have killed a lesser mortal years ago. It finally did kill him, yet here we have people like Quincy Jones continuing to spread malicious stories about the man even after his death. And the fact that so many people are willing to believe the lies, shows that we have learned nothing from Michael Jackson’s death.
So sad.
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With all due respect, Michael died as a result of drug addiction. I am sympathetic with him to a degree. His father was a monster and mistreated Michael horribly as a youth. Perhaps as a result of this and other forces not fully known plus the pressure of fame, Michael became maladjusted. Inviting little boys to share your bed at age 50 is not normal, yet Michael considered it normal. If there was nothing else known but this, if there had been no trial, no public accusation, no press but this one fact – that Michael publicly stated that he thought it was perfectly normal to invite other people’s children into his bed – then we are allowed to judge him accordingly. Taking a child to bed with you is the behavior of a pedophile. Calling it loving is the justification of a pedophile. Michael’s descent into drug addiction in the most recent six years follows his public outing as a pedophile. People take drugs out of guilt, among other reasons. I’m sure Michael wanted to snuff himself out. He snuffed out his face. I believe the poor man hated himself, hated what he became, hated that people knew the truth about his private sin. That’s why he kept anesthetizing himself until the breath left his body.
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I received this comment via personal email from L. Rosa:
“Why doesn’t anyone in the public or the news media raise the question as to whether or not Michael Jackson may have taken his own life intentionally? Jackson’s legendary status as the “King of Pop” was very likely even more important to him than his own life.
He may have felt that he had no other way “out” … bankruptcy, drug addiction, ill health, a grueling tour schedule and most of all, the potential for a public relations nightmare. Jackson knew that he would never be physically able to live up to his “legend” status on the upcoming concert tour … a tour that would have been difficult for any healthy young person, much less someone as frail and as unhealthy as Michael. It would be the ultimate humiliation and perhaps, the final blow to his career as the famed “King of Pop”.
In death, Jackson could also ensure the financial future of his children … something he had been unable to do when he was alive. I think Jackson knew that by ending his life, he would be “as big” (or bigger than Elvis), become loved by mainstream society again, and secure forever an untarnished, deified image as the “King of Pop”. “
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Lisa, I think you have lain out a very believable scenario. We’ll never know, but isn’t it true that he’s getting bigger by the minute? The sale of his “rehearsal” tapes (!) for 50 million!?
This will never end. Just as record companies, or some damned body, is making bucks off recordings of Billie that are 50, 60, and 70 years old so will the money grubbing continue around Michael’s memory. It’s sickening.
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Hi, John, I believe you are responding to the comment made by L. Rosa. It seems plausible, yes.
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Quincy Jones has some nerve saying Mike didn’t want to be black ‘look at Michael Jackson’s kids’. Look at Quincy Jones half/white kids. It seems as if the pot is calling the kettle black so to speak. Michael didn’t hate being black anymore than Quincy does. Quincy has never married a black woman and fathered any children with a black woman. He has some nerve. Quincy is too old to be sitting around chastising anyone for their preference or telling someone that they don’t have an illness. Is Quincy Jones a doctor? I remember Jack Klugman playing the role of ‘Quincy’ who was a doctor back in the early 80’s. But he wasn’t playing Quincy Jones. I think Quincy Jones is putting his racial identity issues off on Michael Jackson. There are
photos of MJ with patches of discolored skin all over his body.
What does Dr. Quincy have to say about that? People like
Quincy Jones are the reason why Mike didn’t come out to the
public about his skin disease in the first place. He tried to conceal it because he knew that people can be ignorant and jealous hearted. What’s wrong Quincy, Mike didn’t let you produce anymore albums for him.
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I think evidence for Michael Jackson’s vitiligo is certainly plausible, and the fact that it is a very rare and relatively unknown disease makes it harder for people to even consider it as a reason for his bizarre transformation. In some televised interviews, Janet Jackson said another relative of theirs has the disease.
I do think it is not fair for people to continuously claim he did not want to be black when he himself constantly said that he was a black American and he was proud to be a black American. Check out this article:
http://floacist.wordpress.com/2007/10/20/jet-interview-august-16-1979/
But then again, Quincy Jones did know Michael personally, and while he seemed to have taken a “tough love” approach with him, I think his comment, while valid, was uncalled for. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
It’s hard to look at his old pictures because he was so beautiful, I would say the epitome of male African beauty. Obviously, we can never know or fully understand what he went through. But it is hurtful for others to implement their judgments upon him even in death.
What sickens me are the money-hungry people reaping benefits from his death and the MEDIA, who practically crucified him in 2005, and now won’t leave his family especially his kids alone.
But everyone still echoes the same thing despite it all: His talent and gift to the world was so immense that we can’t help but be grateful for it.
—
“Why not just tell people I’m an alien from Mars?” Jackson told Taraborrelli in 1995, in a quote that prefaces the book. “Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They’ll believe anything you say, because you’re a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, ‘I’m an alien …’, people would say, ‘Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He’s cracked up! You can’t believe a thing that comes out of his mouth …'”
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Naomi, bear in mind that Michael was a showman. He needed people to get behind him. He fed stories to the media to keep up the publicity, and acted strangely to bring attention to himself like carrying around Bubbles and telling the National Enquirer he slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. When his hidden sex life began to seep out, he tried to put out the flames by getting people to believe he was a victim of lies and slander. He was fairly successful in his efforts, judging by the naive comments many of his followers are making, following him blindly because they refuse to believe he was a child molester.
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