Social media users voiced their concerns after Randy Jackson looked “frail” during his cameo appearance on “American Idol.”
On the May 4 episode, the 69-year-old former judge surprised the Season 24 top five as a guest mentor.
Viewers who saw Jackson meet and critique the finalists during rehearsals immediately voiced their concerns.
“Is Randy Jackson okay? He looks and sounds very weak,” one person wrote of X, while another chimed in, “Randy Jackson is not looking well.”
In a thread on Reddit, a social media user said, “Sorry if I missed anything about his health, but it’s too bad.”
Another fan concluded the heartbreaking statement by adding, “Randy doesn’t look well. He looks weak and weak. He was just sitting there. I hope he’s okay!”
But some in the audience were unfazed by Jackson’s appearance, with one writing: “It’s been 13 years since he’s been a judge, and this is what he looks like in his ‘mid-50s to late 60s’ to many.”
“My dad is the same age as Randy, and he’s lost about the same amount of weight as, ‘This guy’s face and body look okay, but oh, where’s his neck?’ It’s sad, and I wouldn’t call this ‘normal aging and there’s nothing to see,’ but it does happen.”
Jackson, who served as a judge on the competition series from seasons 1 to 12 and then returned as an in-house mentor in season 13, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2002.
“It always happens to someone else. Even if it runs in my family, my dad had it,” he said on “The Doctors” in 2013. “I never thought that would happen to me.”
A year later, the record producer weighed over 350 pounds and decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery.
After the surgery, Jackson lost more than 100 pounds and improved his diet.
“For a long time, you saw me on TV and people looked at me, but I struggled with my weight in the past. Then I took some pretty drastic steps and was finally able to lose the weight,” he detailed to People in 2020.
In 2019, the singer underwent spinal surgery after sustaining a back injury.
That same year, Jackson co-founded the nutrition company Unify Health Labs to help others achieve their weight loss goals.
The “American Idol” alumnus said of his company in 2022: “I’m proud of what we accomplished that helped me and others and helped take the guesswork out of everyone.”
“If I hadn’t figured everything out, I think I would have gained at least half the weight back, maybe more,” Jackson told People at the time.
