By Jael Rucker: Published: January 18, 2026

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Medium under the title “Man in the Mirror.” As part of our 2026 platform launch, this piece has been officially migrated to Decked Out. You are reading the definitive, updated version.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Since we’ve covered Michael Jackson’s struggles with vitiligo and lupus, we’re going to discuss the topic of his plastic surgery one time and one time only because I’ll say what Michael Jackson was way too nice to say when talking about this:

It’s nobody’s damn business what somebody chooses to do with their body, and strangers aren’t owed a damn explanation about it.

That said, there are a lot of myths surrounding the plastic surgery Jackson did have, so today we’re going to dispel those rumors because not only is it significantly blown out of proportion, but Jackson actually had very little cosmetic surgery as a large percentage of what was done was reconstructive work due to his lupus condition preventing proper healing. We’ll start from the beginning.

Photo: Unknown, Primetime (1995)

1979

According to reports, Jackson broke his nose after falling off a stage during a rehearsal sometime around 1979, therefore leading to his first rhinoplasty. The accident itself has never been disputed, meaning it did indeed happen. Now, what Jackson’s critics have tried to say is that he essentially used this accident as an “excuse” to start “having the plastic surgery he always wanted,” and to that I say that’s yet another ridiculous criticism. Let’s keep it real—Michael Jackson was a celebrity who had been famous since around ten years old. The year 1979 put him at 20 going on 21 years old, meaning if he had “wanted a nose job so badly,” he’d had the means to do so for years and hadn’t acted on it.

Now I know Jackson is reported to have complained about the way his nose looked as a teenager according to his mother Mrs. Katherine Jackson in her 1991 book My Family, The Jacksons, but that complaint also came when he was in the midst of his battle with acne, and frankly, everything is dramatized when you’re a teenager and unhappy with things that are going on in your life (especially if it’s affecting your appearance).

That said, even if those insecurities remained, Jackson could have skirted his way around not legally being 18 and had a nose job done the way many celebrities have. He did not. Jackson officially turned 18 in August 1976 so he could have had it legally done then. He did not. He also could have had the procedure done when he turned 19 in 1977 and 20 in 1978. He did not. This alone dispels the notion that he was “looking for an excuse to change his nose,” because he had the means to do so for years and didn’t act on it.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it —Michael Jackson was an artist serious about his craft first and foremost, and having a nose job presents the possibility of your singing voice being permanently altered or even ruined completely. That said, what hadn’t been realized upon that first procedure after Jackson’s nose was broken in 1979 was that he was actually in the early stages of lupus. While he didn’t officially receive that diagnosis until 1983, we know that autoimmune diseases have a way of lying dormant and/or slowly progressing over time. As a result, the procedure in 1979 resulted in Jackson’s nose not healing properly, along with giving him breathing issues, which in turn led to a series of corrective work.

Dr. Steven Hoefflin is the person reported to have performed this surgery, and we know from our deep dive into Jackson’s 1984 Pepsi burn and respective scalp injury, that Dr. Hoefflin apparently had a way of repeatedly performing procedures that ultimately didn’t work (or even made things worse) as per Jackson’s other long-term doctor Arnold Klein.

1993 Medical Evaluation

During the 1993 allegations (which we will be covering later on), Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon hired a doctor named Richard Strick to perform a court-ordered examination of Jackson and review his medical records in December 1993. We’ll be discussing this more in-depth later on, as this examination was a larger part of the 1993 allegations, but for now, we’re going to cover what he concluded regarding Jackson’s cosmetic procedures. As per the court order, Strick was able to gain access to Jackson’s records from his doctors, dermatologist, and plastic surgeon. It’s important to note that in this particular instance, Dr. Strick came from the prosecution’s side, so there was no reason to downplay or lie.

After a full examination of Jackson’s records, Strick concluded that the primary reason for the nose jobs was indeed medical, as they were for reconstructive reasons due to skin healing problems and scarring associated with discoid lupus. Below is an excerpt from an interview conducted with Dr. Strick via Fox News in October 2009 (part of which we’ve linked above):

“Dr. Strick: Michael had a disease, vitiligo, in which the pigment is lost, and attempts had been made to bring that pigment back, which had been unsuccessful. So he tried to bleach it out so it would be one colour. Lupus is also an autoimmune disease, and he also had skin involvement, which had destroyed part of the skin of his nose, and his nasal surgeries and all were really reconstructive, to try and look normal.

Reporter: So all these nose reconstructions you’re saying was as a result of him treating his lupus?

Dr. Strick: The first one was to try and reconstruct from some scar tissue and obstruction that had happened with the skin there. It didn’t work out very well and all subsequent attempts were to make it right. I think he was trying to look like a normal guy as best as he could.”

So there you have it—straight from the mouth of an unbiased doctor who was on the prosecution’s side, and what he said in 2009 is exactly what he concluded in 1993 upon evaluating Jackson’s records—the work that was done afterwards was reconstructive work in the attempt to not only deal with the damage done to his nose by lupus which itself had destroyed the tissue in his nose area, but to help with the breathing obstruction he suffered as a result.

Furthermore, Jackson confirmed his cosmetic procedures in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk. Similar to how he chose not to speak about his vitiligo (which he had then been diagnosed with), he also chose to leave out the medical complications and subsequent reconstructive work as well. Despite what critics have claimed since, Jackson was direct, straightforward and wasn’t looking for the “pity party” he frankly deserved considering the rather bad luck he’d had from a medical standpoint. Here are some excerpts:

“One of the side effects of the Thriller period was to make me weary of constantly being in the public eye. Because of this, I resolved to lead a quieter, more private life. I was still quite shy about my appearance. You must remember that I had been a child star and when you grow up under that kind of scrutiny people don’t want you to change, to get older and look different. When I first became well known, I had a lot of baby fat and a very round, chubby face. That roundness stayed with me until several years ago when I changed my diet and stopped eating beef, chicken, pork, and fish, as well as certain fattening foods. I just wanted to look better, live better, and be healthier. Gradually, as I lost weight, my face took on its present shape and the press started accusing me of surgically altering my appearance, beyond the nose job I freely admitted I had, like many performers and film stars.“

Jackson continued:

“They would take an old picture from adolescence of high school, and compare it to a current photograph. In the old picture my face would be round and pudgy. I’d have an Afro, and the picture would be badly lit. The new picture would show a much older, more mature face. I’ve got a different hairstyle and a different nose. Also, the photographer’s lighting is excellent in the recent photographs. It’s really not fair to make such comparisons. They have said I had bone surgery done on my face. It seems strange to me that people would jump to that conclusion, and I thought it was very unfair. Judy Garland and Jean Harlow, and many others have had their noses done. My problem is, that as a child star, people got used to seeing me look one way. I’d like to set the record straight right now. I have never had my cheeks altered or my eyes altered. I have not had my lips thinned, nor have I had dermabrasion or a skin peel. All of these charges are ridiculous. If they were true, I would say so, but they aren’t. I have had my nose altered twice, and I recently added a cleft to my chin, but that is it. Period. I don’t care what anyone else says — it’s my face and I know.“

Jackson continued to maintain that sentiment throughout his life. The issue people took with that was/is “feeling” like he “didn’t admit to everything” (feelings aren’t facts by the way). To those who have felt that I say…who are you? Literally. Who are you to take issue with something that is none of your business in the first place? Furthermore, as Jackson said himself, he freely admitted the cosmetic procedures he’d had when many celebrities then and now either refuse to address or won’t fully cop to the work they’ve had done.

I won’t name names, but there are a number of celebrities who are still trying to pretend the face and elements of their body they walked into Hollywood with are what they’ve got now. When they aren’t doing that, some have admitted to it, but have gone the route of choosing to claim the “lesser” of their procedures while leaving the “bigger” ones out. Many celebrities would never admit they’ve had a nose job, yet Michael Jackson did on multiple occasions. Furthermore, I’m willing to bet money that adverse medical complications are not the reason why they keep having additional procedures done, which was very much the case with Jackson and quite literally legally confirmed.

Now, this is in no way an attempt to be “shady,” but the truth of the matter is, nobody has gotten the public and media lashing that Michael Jackson did and still does. Not only that, but the person who kept it a buck (Jackson) is considered weird, while others who have gone the route of publicly lying aren’t. Is it not weird to pretend as though you’ve never had anything done when you very clearly have?

I’ll leave you with this. It’s been proven that the mainstream media and tabloids did and still do manipulate later photos of Jackson to make it appear as though he changed drastically. He did not.

Photo: Unknown

Photo: Unknown

Photo: Unknown

As you can see, the biggest difference was the vitiligo, and that he pretty much looked the same otherwise. So the false narratives can stop.

Read the current analysis on the 2026 Biopic’s visual authenticity:

Forensic Authenticity: How Jaafar Jackson is Reconstructing the MJ Blueprint

Author Bio

Jael Rucker is the founder of Decked Out Magazine. She has previously worked as the Associate Commerce Editor at PureWow, focusing on analytics and trends to pitch stories and optimize articles that build and engage their audience. Her work has also been seen in Footwear News and WWD. Prior to 2024, she was the style and pop culture editor at ONE37pm for over three years, contributing numerous product reviews, brand profiles and fashion trend reports, which included interviewing Steph Curry, Snoop Dogg and more.