I know we've hardly gotten any sleep worrying about this:
BY ALEV AKTAR
DAILY NEWS FASHION EDITOR
Michael Jackson's nose is no longer Invincible. In fact, when the King of Pop showed up in a California court, it appeared to have collapsed.The singer was photographed testifying Wednesday in Santa Barbara with a swollen face and surgical tape covering what's left of his snout.
In fact, the Gloved One looked so scary that his former plastic surgeon denied any responsibility.
"Dr. Steven Hoefflin has not done any of Michael Jackson's nasal surgery since 1998, and had advised him against any further surgery," said Karen Cotton, lawyer for the Santa Monica doctor. "We have no information or knowledge about anything that Michael has done recently."
Jackson showed up late for a second day of testimony yesterday in a $21 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by a promoter of two millennium concerts he missed. This time, the bandage was gone.
His lawyers complained about the presence of the pool photographer who snapped Wednesday's shocking photo. The judge refused to bar the lensman, who later told reporters he was asked in a private meeting to try and be less intrusive.
The closeup shot of Jackson, which Web services reported were among the most viewed on the Internet, sent the plastic surgery community into an uproar and fueled speculation that Jackson's nose was bandaged from a reconstructive procedure.
"Clearly, he had some sort of nasal-tip disaster," said Dr. Gerald Imber, a celebrity plastic surgeon based in Manhattan. "What probably happened is that he had some sort of support put in there and the tissue broke down. Now, it looks like he has skin grafts or something to close it up. A collapsed nose is very unusual — I've never seen one, and I've done 15,000 rhinoplasties."
Dr. Harvey Zarem, a prominent cosmetic surgeon in Santa Monica, also said it looked as though Jackson's nose had disintegrated.
"You have to put in a support structure, like a tent pole," he said. "This could have been a restoration of the tip using cartilage, bone or plastic."
While plastic surgeons were horrified by the state of Jackson's nose, dermatologists said the rest of his face is not much better.
"I don't think there's anything he hasn't done," said Dr. Dennis Gross, a Manhattan-based dermatologist and the founder of M.D. Skin Care. "It looks like he has Botox in his forehead, he's definitely had plastic surgery on his eyes, and look at his broad, perfectly squared-off chin.
"I think he's had a permanent lightening procedure using a sister compound of hydroquinone that's not legal in the U.S.," Gross added. He said that if Jackson has the skin disease vitiligo, as the singer claims, the depigmentation most likely would be uneven.
Dr. Pat Wexler, a Manhattan-based cosmetic dermatologist, suggests the entertainer also has tattooed eyebrows and eyeliner. But Wexler says it's unfair to place the blame squarely on Jackson.
"Doctors have an obligation to do what's anatomically and esthetically correct," she said. "Occasionally, someone has to say no. It's not that hard. It's just two letters."
http://www.mostnewyork.com/front/story/35707p-33707c.html