'I don't take garbage from anybody': Sammy Sosa dismisses criticism of his lighter skin tone and says it does not bother him because his vast wealth allows him to do 'whatever he wants'

  • Sammy Sosa sat down for an interview with Sports Illustrated in Dubai, where he addressed the controversy over his drastically lightened skin tone
  • 'This is my life, and I don’t take garbage from nobody. I do whatever I want,' said Sosa about the controversy 
  • 'Look at what I am today,' Sosa also said while sipping a $100 scotch in the UAE, where he is now officially a resident
  • His son Sammy Jr also spoke about his father's decision in 2009 to start using a cream that changed his skin tone and the shape of his face 
  • 'It doesn’t affect him, but I’m sure he feels a certain way,' said Sammy Jr, who stated that his father's 'personal decisions' have no impact on other people
  • Sosa was interviewed with Mark McGwire for a story marking the anniversary of the 1998 MLB season, when Sosa hit 66 home runs and McGwire 70

Sammy Sosa is once again addressing the controversy surrounding his decision to lighten his skin tone.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the former Major League Baseball player said that he is far too successful to even think about the public outcry over his pigmentation.

'Look at what I am today,' Sosa told the magazine while sipping a $100 scotch at the Burj Al Arab Jumeriah in Dubai, where rooms start at $1,500 per night. 

'This is my life, and I don’t take garbage from nobody. I do whatever I want.'

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Changed man: Sammy Sosa sat down for an interview with Sports Illustrated in Dubai, where he addressed the controversy over his drastically lightened skin tone

Family ties: Sosa and his oldest son Sammy Jr in a photo from the Sports Illustrated interview

Family ties: Sosa and his oldest son Sammy Jr in a photo from the Sports Illustrated interview

It was two years after he retired from baseball that Sosa began to start applying a facial cream that resulted in the lightening of his skin.

His face has also become far fuller in the nine years that he has been using the cream, which he also appears to put on his arms and upper chest.

Sosa did not elaborate on the controversy beyond those initial comments to the magazine, but his son Sammy Sosa Jr did provide a bit more insight. 

'It doesn’t affect him, but I’m sure he feels a certain way,' said Sammy Jr. 

'Like, "Man, I gave so many years and so much hard work for you guys, and now you want to undermine all that because of some decisions I’m making - some personal decisions that don’t affect you at all?"' 

Sosa's son also said that his father has softened ever since he left baseball, but was still not fully open.

'He’s a really closed-off person, even with me,' he said. 

'He doesn’t mean to be. There are some things I don’t know about my dad that I wonder about.'

Sosa now spends a good deal of his time in Dubai, and is a resident of the United Arab Emirates. 

Deuces: Sosa has never returned to Chicago since his retirement, and remains persona non grata at Wrigley Field due to his refusal to address rumors that he took banned substances during his career.

Deuces: Sosa has never returned to Chicago since his retirement, and remains persona non grata at Wrigley Field due to his refusal to address rumors that he took banned substances during his career.

Sammy and Sonya
Sosas

Change: 'This is my life, and I don’t take garbage from nobody. I do whatever I want,' said Sosa about the controversy (left in May 2009 with his wife Sonya, right in November) 

Tiny: Sosa was interviewed with Mark McGwire for a story marking the anniversary of the 1998 MLB season, when Sosa hit 66 home runs and McGwire 70 (Sosa above in 1990)

Tiny: Sosa was interviewed with Mark McGwire for a story marking the anniversary of the 1998 MLB season, when Sosa hit 66 home runs and McGwire 70 (Sosa above in 1990)

He also spends his days travelling as well, with plans to visit Monaco, London and Paris in the weeks after the interview.

Sosa has never returned to Chicago however since his retirement, and remains persona non grata at Wrigley Field due to his refusal to address rumors that he took banned substances during his career.

The baseball player continues to flat out deny the claims, which were fueled after he managed to pack approximately 75 lbs. onto his 150 lbs. frame just before his historic 1998 season.

That was the year that Sosa obliterated Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs in a season by hitting 66, a number that was unfortunately bested by Mark McGwire that same year. 

McGwire hit 70 out of the park, a record that stood for three years until Barry Bonds blasted past that with 73 home runs.

Both of those men have confessed to taking steroids. 

Sosa has denied over and over, and does so one again in the interview, stating: 'I never failed a drug test, so why are you asking me about that, when they don’t have nothing on Sosa?'

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