Sammy Sosa Bleached Skin Pictures: "He's Not Trying to Be Michael Jackson!"

There is a persistent rumor, aided by picture evidence, firing up the ether about former Chicago Cubs all-star Sammy Sosa and bleached skin. The rumors have become constant since pictures were taken of the Cubs right fielder at an event at the 2009 Latin Grammys in Las Vegas Thursday. Pictures showing the contrast of coloration of Sammy Sosa's skin from his older baseball pictures and his most recent pictures have the blogosphere and the rumor-peddling tabloids flooding the internet with dark pictures, light pictures, and speculation about said dark and light pictures and whether or not the slugger has had his skin bleached. But a former employee of the Chicago Cubs, Rebecca Polihronis, who has worked with Sammy Sosa says the media has it all wrong, that Sosa has not bleached his skin, and that part of the problem was the lighting.

The lighting? Is she serious? What kind of megawattage has to be directed at someone to make the level of melanin in their skin look nearly nonexistent?

"He's not trying to be Michael Jackson," she said, referring to the pop singer's admission to having bleached his skin after developing vitiligo, the skin disorder that causes an absence of melanin in the skin.

Rebecca Polihronis told the Chicago Tribune that Sosa was doing a "rejuvenation process" for his skin. "Women have it all the time," the former Cubs Care/Community Relations manager said. "He was surprised he came out looking so white. I thought it was a body double. Part of (the photo appearance) is just the lighting."

Polihronis said that people who see him in person do not react like they have on the internet and Sosa is surprised that it has become such a big deal. "The picture is deceiving," she said.

"He has always been concerned with the way he looks," Polihronis said. "Probably just bad timing going to an awards show." She added, "He was doing a dermatological skin process after years and years (of playing baseball) in the sun. It did come out looking weird (in the picture)."

A little weird may not have had the internet setting speculation speed records. The fact that the color of Sammy Sosa's face is markedly lighter than when he began to play baseball for the Texas Rangers has produced that speculation. It doesn't take much to get the rumor mill to grinding, especially when it comes to skin tone alterations.

L'Oreal found out just how quickly those rumors could turn into a firestorm when they allegedly lightened pop singer Beyonce's skin for one of their promotions in 2008. The company categorically denied the alterations but the topic became a media hot topic for weeks.

Yet, unlike the L'Oreal / Beyonce controversy, where Beyonce's skin tone is slightly lighter, the Sammy Sosa pictures are noticeably different in shade. And Sammy Sosa my not have bleached his skin and may not be "trying to be Michael Jackson", but all the explaining in the world won't stop people from talking...

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Pictures of Sammy Sosa with the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Cubs, and recently at the 2009 Latin Grammys that should a marked contrast in the baseball slugger's skin coloration, prompting the "bleached" rumors.

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Sources:

ChicagoTribune.com
Guardian.co.uk