Michael Jackson’s mother recalled how he called himself ‘ugly’ before getting plastic surgery: "He was so..."
Katherine Jackson once admitted that her son, Michael Jackson, was addicted to plastic surgery. She and her husband, Joe Jackson, spoke with Oprah Winfrey from their home in Encino, California, back in 2010 after Michael's death. Despite numerous media reports of their separation, both denied being divorced. During an emotional moment in the interview, Katherine expressed her belief that Michael had been addicted to plastic surgery. "He'd say, 'I'm just so ugly; I don't want to go out there,'" she recalled. "I'd say, 'You're not.' To a mother, all her children are always beautiful."
Michael’s dissatisfaction with his appearance led him to undergo cosmetic procedures, starting with his nose. "One day he just got up and decided, 'I'm going to get my nose done. It's too big,'" Katherine said. "One day he just made up his mind, and he just left. When I inquired about where he was, he had gone down to get his nose done. He thought I might try to talk him out of it, I think. He was so unhappy. He thought he was so ugly." Katherine, who now takes care of Michael's three children, Prince Michael, Paris, and Blanket, dismissed her son’s claim that he had only undergone two surgeries, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
"He had more than two; he was just embarrassed," she stated. "It was like a toothpick at one time. I thought it was too small." I hear that people get addicted to plastic surgery and I think that's what happened to him. " I had told him, 'That's enough. Why do you keep going?' I even talked to the plastic surgeon and said, 'If he comes there and he wants you to work on his nose, just tell him you did it and do the same thing and don't change it.'" Katherine became emotional when asked about Michael’s passing in 2009. "The worst day of my life," she said. "My heart dropped. And so they called me and said, 'Come to the hospital. Michael's in the hospital.'"
She recalled how the doctor had to deliver the devastating news. "They made the doctor tell me. The doctor had to tell us... Dr. [Conrad] Murray." "He came out, and he was talking, and it took him so long," Katherine said. "He said, 'No, he's gone. That's all I remember,'" she added, tearing up. "I'm sorry." Murray was later charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly administering a combination of sedatives, including the anesthetic Propofol, to help Michael sleep. However, he pleaded not guilty.
Joe Jackson had once acknowledged for the first time that he disciplined his children using physical punishment. In an interview with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Joe admitted to using a strap on his children. "I don't [regret the beatings]," he stated. "It kept them out of jail and kept them right." Initially, Joe defended his actions and his relationship with Michael, saying, "I don't think he was afraid of me. What he was afraid of was that he may do something wrong, and I'd chastise him but not beat him. I never beat him like the media tried to say," as per ABC News. However, when Katherine Jackson, his wife, stepped in, she confirmed the use of the strap. "You might as well admit it; that's the way black people raised their children," Katherine said. "He used a strap. Yes, he did use a strap." Joe then criticized Katherine, calling her too lenient. "Katherine is too easy with people... just like Michael," he remarked.