Celebrities who have vitiligo
Only 1% of the world's population is affected by the autoimmune disease
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CELEBRITY Vitiligo
One percent
Vitiligo is a long-term skin-pigment disorder in which the immune system destroys melanocytes—the cells that produce pigment on the skin—causing white patches to develop on the skin due to a loss of pigment. The skin condition affects only one in every hundred people in the world, and can develop at any age after birth. The cause of vitiligo is unknown, and although the autoimmune condition is not medically dangerous, many people affected by vitiligo—especially children— are affected emotionally and socially. Stella Pavlides, founder and president of the American Vitiligo Research Foundation (AVRF), shared in a piece for The New York Times her early struggles with the skin condition: "People say vitiligo doesn’t kill you, but it kills your spirit,” she said. Pavlides also admitted to have considered suicide. "I wouldn’t go out with my friends, I never went to the beach. I became a recluse. I even contemplated suicide. When I did go out in the summer in New York City, I wore long-sleeved tops, long pants and socks, " she confessed.
Michael Jackson
After much speculations about skin bleaching, the late King of Pop opened up for the first time about his medical condition that caused his skin to get lighter on the Oprah show on 10 February 1993. Jackson claimed the following: "I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin, that is something I cannot help. But when people make up stories that I don't want to be who I am it hurts me."
Want to know which other famous people have this skin disorder? Click through to find out.
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