By the time of his death, Michael Jackson’s body was covered in scars, believed to be the result of numerous cosmetic surgeries, the British newspaper Mirror reports, citing the star’s autopsy report recently published in full. The singer, who died from an anesthetic overdose at the age of 50 in 2009, had surgical marks on his skin behind his ears and on either side of the nostrils as well at the base of his neck, his arms and wrist, according to the post-mortem report.
Doctors concluded that the singer got these scars during numerous cosmetic surgeries, the British tabloid reports. Apart from these undesirable marks, Jackson also apparently had several cosmetic tattoos made, including the pink inked liner around his lips and a darkened bald patch on his head to conceal the results of a fire accident on the set of a Pepsi commercial in the 1980s.
The autopsy also reportedly set the record straight about the debates around Jackson’s changing skin colour, which he insisted to be the result of vitiligo, a condition when the skin partially loses its pigmentation.
The newspaper cites Dr Christopher Rogers, who oversaw the post-mortem probe, and confirmed these claims.
"So, some areas of the skin appear light and others appear dark", he said.
Apart from the traces of changes that Jackson voluntarily underwent in the course of his life, his body also bears the marks of the paramedics’ struggle to save his life during its final minutes. These CPR attempts, which turned out to be in vain, reportedly caused chest bruising and cracked ribs.
READ MORE: ‘Public Lynching’: Michael Jackson’s Family Condemns New Documentary’s Claims
Ahead of the tenth anniversary of his tragic death, the star is making headlines again as the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland", screened for the first time in January ahead of its public premiere, delved into claims by two men who are now in their 30s, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, that Jackson sexually molested them when they were children. Jackson's family released a statement censuring the film, saying that they “can't just stand by while this public lynching goes on, and the vulture tweeters and others who never met Michael go after him”.
In 2005, Jackson was acquitted in a criminal trial in California, after he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo.
The trial, which lasted almost 18 months, found Jackson not guilty on four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor in order to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation and one count of conspiring to hold the boy captive at his Neverland Ranch (Jackson's property in Santa Barbara County, California).