Paris Jackson, the only daughter of late pop star Michael Jackson, opened up about her African-American roots and how proud she is of that, as well as the criticism she received.
Paris, 25, was born to parents Billie Jean hitmaker and Debbie Rowe in 1998.
Over the years, there have been speculations that Jackson wasn’t the biological father of his three children, Paris and her two brothers, Bigi, 22, and Prince, 27. This was due to the fact that that many couldn’t see any resemblance between the late star and the kids, especially Paris who has white skin, light eyes and now bleached-blond hair.
The kids were very close with their father who went to great lengths to protect them from media scrutiny. His measures were unlike, however. He would show his son Bigi to the public with his face covered with a blanket, causing him troubles while growing up because his friends often teased him. He now prefers to be called Bigi.
Following the star’s death in 2009, his children were tossed alone in the public eye, turning them a highly profitable prey for the media that were eager to share their photos and followed their every step.
This experience left Paris battling a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“I experience audio hallucinations, sometimes, with camera clicks and severe paranoia and have been going to therapy for a lot of things, but that included,” she shared.
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By age 15, Paris attempted suicide “multiple times” and in 2019 she was admitted at a treatment facility. “It was just self-hatred…Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn’t do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore.”
Today, she’s a successful musician who follows into her father’s footsteps. Over the years, she has also walked the runway for famous brands such as Chanel. Paris is a member of the band The Soundflowers.
“Everyone in my family does music. I mean, I’m a Jackson,” she said in 2020. “It makes sense that I’m a musician but like, a Jackson doing folk indie?”
Paris is very close to her brothers and looks up to Prince. “He’s everything to me, you know?” In 2020, she told People of her relationship with her older brother. “I’ve always looked up to him and always wanted his approval and everything, and wanted to be more like him.”
He loves and supports his younger sister as much. “Basically, as a person, she is who my dad is. The only thing that’s different would be her age and her gender,” he said of Paris, adding that she’s similar to her father “in all of her strengths, and almost all of her weaknesses as well. She’s very passionate.”
The physical appearance of the King of Pop underwent significant changes over the course of his life and many accused him of bleaching his skin, which was considerably darker in his younger days, but he claimed he had never done anything to his skin and that it turning white was a result of Vitiligo, during an Oprah interview in 1993.
“I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am,” Jackson told Winfrey at the time.
Back in 2017, speaking of herself, Paris told Rolling Stone magazine she “considers [herself] black,” and that “[Michael] would look me in the eyes and he’d point his finger at me and he’d be like, ‘You’re black. Be proud of your roots.’”
“Most people that don’t know me call me white. I’ve got light skin and, especially since I’ve had my hair blond, I look like I was born in Finland or something,” she said. “And I’d be like, ‘okay, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believe what he told me. [Because], to my knowledge, he’s never lied to me.”
This declaration of race triggered criticism on Paris. Among the rest, it was host Wendy William’s that mocked Paris’ statement.
“I get that she considers herself black and everything, but I’m just talking about the visual because you know…black is not what you call yourself, it’s what the cops see you when they got steel to your neck on the turnpike.”
She added: “It’s what they see. But that’s cute and good for her.”
18 Child Actors Who Are All Grown Up Now, and We Didn’t Even Notice It (New Pics)
It seems that some of the films and TV series we loved as children are now decades old. Think of The NeverEnding Story, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or even Baywatch. And of course, the young actors that played child roles in these have grown up significantly. For example, Jonathan Lipnicki, the child star of Jerry Maguire, is already 30 years old, and Noah Hathaway, who is remembered for his performance as Atreyu in The NeverEnding Story, will turn 50 in November 2021. Even Georgie Henley, aka Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia is now 25!
Bright Side did some research to find out what 18 child actors from the ’90s and the beginning of the ’00s look like today, and here’s what we found.
1. Jeremy Dunn Jackson (Hobie Buchannon), Baywatch (1991-1999)
2. Jonathan Lipnicki (Ray Boyd), Jerry Maguire (1996)
3. Daryl Sabara (Juni Cortez), Spy Kids (2001)
4. Taylor Lautner (Sharkboy), The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D (2005)
5. Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
6. Matthew Lawrence (Chris Hillard), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
7. Lisa Jakub (Lydia Hillard), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
8. Noah Hathaway (Atreyu), The NeverEnding Story (1984)
9. Nicholle Tom (Ryce), Beethoven (1992)
10. Giorgio Cantarini (Giosué), Life Is Beautiful (1997)
11. Anna Chlumsky (Vada Sultenfuss), My Girl (1991)
12. Patrick Renna (Hamilton “Ham” Porter), The Sandlot (1993)
13. Ivyann Schwan (Trixie Young), Problem Child 2 (1991)
14. Madison Lintz (Sophia Peletier), The Walking Dead (2010-2012)
15. Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 and Part 2 (2011-2012)
16. Alexa PenaVega (Carmen Cortez), Spy Kids (2001)
17. Edward Furlong (John Connor), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
18. Raven-Symoné (Olivia Kendall), The Cosby Show (1989-1992)
Which of the series or movies listed above is your favorite? Which of the actors do you think has changed the most? Is there anybody else you think we should add to this list?
Preview photo credit The NeverEnding Story / Warner Bros. and co-producers, noahhathaway*** / Instagram
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