's PS woes

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forced to reveal ravages of surgery in courtBy Oliver Poole in Los Angeles(Filed: 15/11/2002)

The ravages that plastic surgery have inflicted upon were exposed yesterday when he was required to take the witness stand to face accusations that he had cost his promoter £15 million by failing to perform at two Millennium concerts.

Normally the self-styled king of pop is only seen in public in carefully controlled lighting or wearing a surgical mask.

takes the witness stand in California

However, at a Californian court near the reclusive singer's Neverland Ranch, he was required to sit unmasked under bright lights, which starkly revealed the consequences of more than 20 years of facial surgery.

The singer wore a plaster on his badly deformed nose, which according to reports in the American press has been so damaged that the tissue at its tip has died. Even heavy make-up could not hide the unnatural appearance of his eyes and jaw line.

, 43, had taken the stand to be questioned about allegations brought by Marcel Avram, his German-based, longtime promoter, that he failed to show up at two concerts scheduled for Sydney, Australia, and Hawaii on Dec 31, 1999.

More than 100 fans gathered outside the Santa county court waving "Free " posters.

During his 10 minutes on the stand , speaking in a whisper, answered "Yes" and "No" to questions about the two men's business relationship. He was then whisked away in a black stretch utility vehicle accompanied by five police officers on motorcycles.

claims it was Mr Avram who postponed the concerts after realising that the events would not generate enough ticket sales to cover the £10 million fee that had been promised for performing.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/35707p-33707c.html

Jacko nose makes news

'You have to put in a support structure, like a tent pole'

BY ALEV AKTARDAILY NEWS FASHION EDITOR

The strangest sight in court? It's Jacko by a nose.

'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. Hoefflin has not done any of 's nasal surgery since 1998, and had advised him against any further surgery," said Cotton, lawyer for the Santa doctor. "We have no information or knowledge about anything that has done recently."

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.

Reconstructing events

The closeup shot of , which Web services reported were among the most viewed on the Internet, sent the plastic surgery community into an uproar and fueled speculation that '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 , also said it looked as though '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 '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 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 .

"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."