Former baseball star Sammy Sosa, a native Dominican, was recently photographed with markedly whiter skin.
In an interview with Spanish-language TV show Primer Impacto, Sosa blamed the change on a skin moisturizer.
“It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some,” Sosa said. “It’s a cream that I have, that I used to soften (my skin), but has bleached me some. I’m not a racist. I live my life happily.”
Sosa said he uses the cream to combat sun damage he suffered over a lifetime of standing in the outfield of baseball diamonds.
The controversy was sparked when Sosa was photographed last week at the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas. His noticeable pallor sparked a wave of speculation in the media and on the Internet.
Sosa would only say that the cream is “European.” He claims to be in negotiations to sign on as the unnamed cream manufacturer’s pitchman.
Extracts from an article at thestar.com, published 11 November 2009 (original)
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