New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) In the history of contemporary music and dance, very few artists have been able to garner success as gargantuan and infamy as demeaning as Michael Jackson. Although "The King of Pop" was riddled with accusations of child sexual abuse during his later years, his former doctor, acclaimed Irish surgeon Patrick Treacy, reveals that he never put much thought into those claims.
"I personally never found any evidence of Michael Jackson having paedophilic tendencies either in his conversation or behaviour," Treacy, who is in India for medical seminars in Goa and for promoting his memoir, "Behind the Mask: The Extraordinary Story of the Irishman Who Became Michael Jackson's Doctor", told IANS.
Treacy has also defended Jackson in his book where he writes about Jackson's empathy towards children suffering from HIV in Rwanda and expressed his desire to do a concert from them.
He also shed light on Jackson's philanthropy when he donated $1.5 million to a children's burns unit in Los Angeles.
"Yes, he founded a paediatric burns centre associated with an established hospital in Southern California with the compensation he got from his own burns incident during the Pepsi-Cola advertisement," Treacy said.
Treacy has also written about this incident in his book, where he mentions how Jackson narrated to him the story of his burns which he got after a pyrotechnic display had fallen on his head while shooting for the Pepsi-Cola advertisement.
During his lifetime, Jackson - who died in 2009 due to acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication - repeatedly went under the knife, and in the process, bleached his skin for a whiter skin tone.
Treacy refuted popular opinion that the superstar did that purposefully and asserted that it was due to a medical condition called vitiligo.
"He had a medical condition called vitiligo. We were mostly treating Michael for that and other cosmetic enhancements. He may have had some level of body dysmorphia that contributed to his willingness to undergo cosmetic surgical techniques," Treacy said.
"I don't think the results of Michael's cosmetic surgery are anything for a competent cosmetic surgeon to necessarily be proud of," he added.
Talking about some of the rumours that had circulated during Jackson's life, Treacy shared a curious incident when the "Thriller" hitmaker was said to have been using cryogenics to prolong his life.
"This occurred when he was asked to get into a cryotherapy unit he was donating to a paediatric burns unit," Treacy said.
Treacy particularly expressed discontentment with the way certain tabloids dealt with the rumours and accusations against Jackson.
"It is of no benefit to extend further on this incident at this late stage outside to state the level of dishonesty regarding the subjective nature of British red top media regarding Michael Jackson," he said.
Asked about the medical trends in showbiz, the surgeon, who has travelled to India before, said Bollywood stars generally prefer cosmetic enhancements.
"Yes, cosmetic enhancement, particularly hair transplant is favoured by Bollywood stars. Botox and dermal fillers are certainly favoured by females who often have their own cosmetic dermatologists," he added.
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