A photograph of Michael Jackson’s naked corpse, laid bare to the jury examining the question of the pop icon’s wrongful death on Tuesday, revealed his rare pigmentation disease.
A lawyer for the singer’s family showed an autopsy photograph of the singer, which according to CNN, “looked nothing like the world’s most famous entertainer”.
In his autopsy report, Dr Christopher Rogers recorded that the front of Jackson’s scalp was tattooed black in order to blend his hairline in with the wigs he wore, while his lips were tattooed pink and his eyebrows were a dark tattoo.
The autopsy confirmed Jackson’s skin tone became lighter in the 1980s because he had “vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disease”, Rogers said.
Dr Rogers is expected to give further evidence at the trial, which had earlier heard how the pop legend’s doctor, Dr Conrad Murray, was a “mismatch” unsuitable to care for the singer on his doomed 2009 tour.
Jackson was well known to have a history of sleep problems and abusing painkillers, Dr Daniel Wohlgelernter told the trial where Jackson’s 82-year-old mother is suing tour promoter AEG Live for negligently hiring Murray.
Dr Wohlgelernter, a trained heart specialist like Murray - who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 — also criticised Jackson’s former physician for using the anaesthetic propofol, and for his actions the day Jackson died.
