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Sammy Sosa__ has been looking whiter than ever lately and it's really quite concerning. In case you don't know the full story, here's a quick recap. Sammy is a former MLB baseball player who was born in the Dominican Republic. His natural skin color is a beautiful dark chocolate tone but he's been sporting various shades of unnatural white (sometimes grayish) since he started bleaching his skin back in 2009. There's clearly something bigger that Sammy has been going through that goes even beyond aesthetics.
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Sammy was first spotted sporting a much paler complexion in 2009. He's been looking unnaturally lighter since. Earlier this year, his pigment was so off, he looked as pink as a Pepto-Bismol bottle. And just this week he was spotted again showing off a pasty skin tone that looked strange and uneven. The sad thing is that Sammy has actually admitted to using bleaching cream. And while he may not see it that way, it's clearly a case of self-hate.
Colorism is a huge problem across the world, but especially in Latin America where whiter skin and European features are highly praised. We can only hope that Sammy has some sort of revelation soon that inspires him to stop bleaching and embrace his natural beauty before the bleach does permanent damage to his skin.
Here's a look at his devastating transformation over the years.
Here's the Sammy Sosa we all miss and love.
This is how the Dominican and former MLB baseball player looked before he started applying bleaching creams to his skin. Here he is at the 8th Annual GQ Men of the Year Awards back in 2003, when he was still sporting his natural complexion and a healthy, radiant glow!
Sammy still looked like himself back in 2006.
He still hadn't retired though. Just keep that fun fact in mind.
Another brown picture of Sammy in 2006.
There he is at the Beyonce and Jay-Z Miami Charity poker tournament still looking like himself.
But things started to get weird in 2009.
Sammy was spotted at the 7th Annual Fed Ex St. Jude Angels and Stars Miami Gala rocking blue contact lenses. No one was too concerned about it though.
He wore them again, though.
Sammy was spotted with his wife Sonia at the People En Espanol's 50 Most Beautiful People event in NYC later that year rocking his blue contact lenses again.
He was unrecognizable at his 41st birthday party at Fontaine Bleau in Miami Beach.
Sammy surprised everyone with a much paler complexion, a straight hair texture (that was most likely achieved with the help of a relaxer), and those infamous blue contact lenses again. It was concerning, to say the least.
He showed off his lighter complexion at the 'People En Espanol' 50 Mas Bellos Party in 2010.
Sammy was still sporting his lighter skin tone in 2010. Before this he had admitted to using bleaching products. "It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some," he said in an interview with Univision's Primer Impacto in 2009. "It's a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some. I'm not a racist. I live my life happily."
Later that year the damage started to show.
Using bleaching cream was starting to take a toll on Sammy's skin leaving it looking dull, uneven and grayish.
Sammy got even whiter in 2011.
He was spotted leaving his hotel in NYC in 2011 looking even whiter than before. Sammy was clearly still using bleaching cream on his skin.
The damage must have inspired him to chill out for a while.
Sammy was spotted later that year looking a little darker again. Less frequent use of bleaching cream can cause the skin to go back to its natural color. We were crossing our fingers he was done with it once and for all.
Sammy looked lighter again at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas.
He was seen with his pregnant wife Sonia and his skin looked incredibly damaged and uneven.
The damage was even more obvious in 2012.
He attended People En Espanol's 50 Most Beautiful People gala that year in NYC and the damaging effects of bleaching were really showing on his skin. He even looked older.
His skin started to start look paler again.
A paparrazi picture of Sammy in NYC later that year revealed a paler, and whiter complexion. He was clearly back to using the bleaching cream and it was breaking our hearts.
Sammy started to look a little browner in 2013.
He attended the Lea & Roy Blacks Annual Gala in Florida with his wife sporting a browner, more even complexion. Was he finally giving the bleaching creams up?
He looked brown at Miami Beach Fashion Week that year too.
Maybe the bleaching was just a bad, self-hating phase that he had overcome?
But by November 2016 Sammy was pale again.
He attended the InList's 2nd anniversary party celebrating Moishe Mana's birthday rocking a pale, gray complexion. The bleaching phase still wasn't over yet.
He looked pink this summer.
A video clip of Sammy looking as pink as Pepto-Bismol went viral this summer. It caused a ton of controversy on Twitter by fans who were appalled by his drastic transformation.
People called it a serious case of self-hate.
It was a devastating thing to see.
There were jokes being made.
But Sammy's transformation from black to white is no laughing matter.
He was recently spotted this month looking whiter than he's ever looked so far.
Sammy has clearly not put down the bleaching cream and it really speaks volumes about how he feels about his naturally dark complexion.
