Sammy Sosa made a surprise and unexpected appearance in a video clip during the 2017 ESPY Awards on July 13, and fans were baffled that the man on the screen was him! The Dominican MLB stud’s skin looked fully white — definitely several shades lighter than when he played on the Chicago Cubs — and Twitter blew up with comments about his appearance. It wasn’t all about his skin tone, though…Sammy was also rocking a bright pink hat and matching button down shirt, and a lot of the tweets were about the ensemble.
“Sammy Sosa looking like chewed up bubble gum!!!” one viewer wrote on Twitter. Another made a similar joke, writing, “Why’s Sammy Sosa looking like a pack of Big League Chew?” Others compared him to a boneless chicken breast, Pepto Bismol, a pink crayon, Princess Poppy (from Trolls) and an “unwrapped pink starburst.” Sadly, some even commented that he looked ill, and many retorted that it was harsh of people on Twitter to judge and make fun of his look. For the most part, though, people’s tweets read something like, “No way that’s Sammy Sosa!” and “What happened to Sammy Sosa?”
The color of Sammy’s skin has been talked about for years, as his complexion has continuously gotten lighter and lighter. Back in 2009, he addressed the situation, slamming reports that he was trying to be like Michael Jackson or that he had a skin condition. “It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and it whitens my skin some,” he said at the time. “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.”
My man Sammy Sosa looking like Snagglepuss smh pic.twitter.com/arJWAvQKMi
— G (@__GDB) July 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/_artistone_/status/885263546241748993
https://twitter.com/Dante_Jordan/status/885380291853811712
HollywoodLifers, what do you think of Sammy’s lighter complexion and outfit? Are you shocked by his look?