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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2025 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 28, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Did Michael Jackson have vitiligo?

I asked ChatGPT 5.6 Sol on extra hard reasoning mode (lol) to give me an estimate of what percentage chance that Michael Jackson had vitiligo. It came back with 99%.

ChatGPT was relying on two pieces of evidence. One was from the autopsy, where the examining doctor noted vitiligo. The second piece of evidence was from his doctor who diagnosed him with this condition.

I pushed back, and suddenly that 99% became very squishy.

Some facts that are true as best as we can ascertain.

  1. Only about 0.2% of African-Americans have vitiligo
  2. Michael Jackson engaged in multiple plastic surgeries to alter his appearance
  3. Michael Jackson's doctors engaged in unethical treatments such as prescription of harmful drugs
  4. The depigmentation drug (monobenzone) that can be used to treat vitiligo can also cause vitiligo like appearance when taken by a non-affected person
  5. There are no known pictures of Jackson pre-1990 (age 31) with Vitiligo like symptoms
  6. Half of people with vitiligo develop symptoms before age 20
  7. People much prefer the explanation that Jackson had vitiligo than the alternative explanation that Jackson wanted to look white

Isn't the more likely explanation that Jackson's quack doctor gave him monobenzone to lighten his skin?

Presented with all this, Chat-GPT apologized profusely and lowered its confidence level to 20-40%. I'd go lower, personally.

In any case, in terms of epistemics, I don't think LLMs are competitive with top human autists.

His autopsy listed him as having vitiligo:

After his death, his autopsy report stated that there were “patches of light and dark pigmented areas” on examination of his skin, and vitiligo was listed as a diagnosis in his medical history. In addition, a tube of Benoquin 20% cream was noted among his medications, revealing that he did use this FDA-approved treatment for vitiligo. He also had a tube of BQ/KA/RA (Benoquin 8%, Kojic acid 1%, and retinoic acid 0.025%), another effective formulation for Benoquin, as well as hydroquinone 8% lotion (which would help to lighten any remaining pigment), and UVA Anthelios XL sunscreen, a good idea for anyone with vitiligo, especially if they had depigmented their skin. Microscopic examination of his skin revealed a lack of pigment and reduced number of melanocytes, which is most consistent with vitiligo, with or without the use of Benoquin, and vitiligo was the official diagnosis on the report. Rare photos of him when his skin was exposed appear to show his depigmented skin, and one (above) shows his largely depigmented arms with some remaining spots of pigment.

I remember also seeing a youtube video of his (dark) makeup running down his face at a show. IIRC, he initially tried to cover up the white patches, but the condition progressed so much that he decided it would be easier to just lighten the remaining dark skin he had (as well as having the ill-advised nose job etc).

I'd interpret this more as your ability to lead ChatGPT in the direction you wanted it to go.

Read the quote below from the same article. This actually updates me slightly towards did not have vitiligo. It's clear that they view this as a culture war issue and are entirely unreliable. Just complete slop.

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. He was a remarkable person who was a self-proclaimed perfectionist who was undoubtedly stressed by his vitiligo and visibility, and this may have been an important factor in his avoidance of the public later in life, his use of drugs (which was ultimately the cause of his death), and his frustration about the press’s invasion into his private life.

I think both you are the writer are setting this up as a binary. Either he had vitiligo, or he was trying to change his appearance to look more European.

My understanding was that he did have vitiligo, and once he realised he wasn't going to be able to cover it up, he decided to go the other way to lighten his skin. He then had the surgeries to make everything 'match' racially.

What's the alternative, that his doctor diagnosed him with a disease he didn't have and gave him drugs he didn't need, all so that a handsome, popular African American popstar could race-swap for no reason? It's not as if his ancestry was a shameful secret.

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