Disaster of Disguise

Michael Jackson may be a man of many hats (usually fedoras), but “he’s the worst at [disguises],” said Janet Charlton, gossip columnist for Star magazine, in a 1994 interview with The Times. “He has a myriad of ridiculous disguises that mostly draw attention to himself.”

Indeed, aside from wearing surgical masks of many colors, Jackson has been photographed variously as a robot, a nurse, a little old man with a beard and a fat guy--50 pounds overweight thanks to body pads--sporting an orange wig. Then, a few years ago, the paparazzi caught him on a Las Vegas sidewalk posing as just-your-average tourist in running shoes and a shroud of black, with Michael Milken by his side.

Now how does the pop star’s infant son know his father? As snapped recently on a Paris sidewalk by a freelancer for People magazine, he’s the one with the cheerful print jammies and the peek-a-boo veil over his face. (We’d print it here, but our allowance doesn’t cover the asking price of $2,000.)