Michael Jackson’s scalp was so bald and scarred from burns that he needed five custom wigs before he left for London for his last concert tour, his hair and makeup woman testified yesterday.
Karen Faye, who had worked for Jackson for nearly 25 years, told the jury in the wrongful-death trial that the King of Pop had been taking Propecia to grow more hair and Latisse to make his eyelashes fuller.
“I needed as much healthy hair as possible on his head to attach the wig,” Faye recalled.
Each hairpiece cost $3,500.
“They are ventilated. Each and every hair is crocheted into netting,” Faye told the jury. “They had to look real. It takes a long time.”
She said that, concerned about damage from perspiration, she called Dr. Arnold Klein, who had been giving Jackson Botox injections for wrinkles, to see whether he could inject Botox into the singer’s scalp to control sweating. Klein never called her back.
Jacko’s mother, Katherine, and his three kids are suing concert promoter AEG Live, claiming it hired Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist who gave him a fatal dose of anesthetic so he could sleep.
The Jackson family claims AEG Live execs pressured the pop star to perform more concerts than he was capable of and were oblivious to his failing health as they overworked him.