In an interview with Britain’s ‘The Mirror’ on Wednesday, Tito Jackson defended his brother’s decision to lighten his skin, insisting that Michael’s skin condition, Vitiligo (a chronic disorder that causes depigmentation) was the reason. “He wasn’t trying to make himself look less black. My brother had a case of vitiligo. His body was blotching and he chose to bleach out the blotches with dermatologist creams.”

“He wanted to have uniform skin. It had nothing to do with him wanting to change his race. It was due to the loss of pigmentation. If I had no pigment I would be just the same,” Tito explained. “I don’t know if he was embarrassed, but he knew his body was going through changes. He just wanted to look as good as he could.”

He added, “He had no choice in the matter, otherwise he would have looked like a spotted animal or a cow with spots all over him. It spreads and grows, you can catch it any time and can’t do a lot about it. That’s why he just had to carry on bleaching his whole life. He was trying to get himself as attractive as he could, to make himself presentable as a celebrity.”