Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris has addressed her racial identity after facing criticism for saying that she identifies as a Black woman.
The 25-year-old actress and singer – whose full name is Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson – was born to Debbie Rowe and the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker in 1998.
The Swarm star is the late singer’s only daughter and was 11 years old in 2009 when the shocking news broke that the King of Pop had passed away.
Michael Jackson in 2005. He developed Vitiligo as he got older. Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty
Jackson shot to fame in the 1960s as a young singer in the band Jackson 5, alongside his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon. The band was managed by their father Joe Jackson and spawned several hits including ‘ABC,’ ‘I Want You Back’, ‘I’ll Be There,’ ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ and ‘Can You Feel It’.
As an African-American, the ‘Smooth Criminal’ star had a darker complexion when he began his career. But later, he developed Vitiligo and this caused the pigmentation in his skin to lighten as he got older.
In 2017, Paris opened up to Rolling Stone about her childhood as the ‘Billie Jean’ musician’s daughter and about speculation that he was not her biological father.
Paris Jackson. Credit: Steve Granitz / Getty
The then-18-year-old said in 2017 that most people call her white and say that she resembles someone from Finland, but she declared “I consider myself Black,” and added that her father would look at her, point his finger, and say: “You’re Black. Be proud of your roots.
“And I’d be like, ‘OK, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believe what he told me. ‘Cause, to my knowledge, he’s never lied to me,” she continued.
The budding singer also insisted that she has seen mixed-race children that have her complexion – pointing out Prison Break star Wentworth Miller who has a mixed-race father and a white mother.
But despite the doubts that the beloved pop star is not her biological father, Paris simply said: “He is my father. He will always be my father. He never wasn’t, and he never will not be.
“People that knew him really well say they see him in me, that it’s almost scary,” she added.
Michael Jackson with his children, Prince and Paris, in 2005. Credit: Dave M. Benett / Getty
Elsewhere in the interview, the ‘Let Down’ vocalist spoke about how she and her siblings – Prince and Bigi “Blanket” Jackson – grew up on their dad’s Neverland ranch, which featured an amusement park, zoo, and movie theater.
Despite spending her time as a child in a 2,700-acre California estate, Paris insists that her childhood was normal and shared that she and her brothers weren’t allowed to go on the rides whenever they wanted to.
“We had school every single day, and we had to be good. And if we were good, every other weekend or so, we could choose whether we were gonna go to the movie theater or see the animals or whatever,” she said. “But if you were on bad behavior, then you wouldn’t get to go do all those things.”
The young girl also credited her father for raising her in an “open-minded house,” recalling a moment in her childhood when she was “in love with this female on the cover of a magazine”.
“Instead of yelling at me, like most homophobic parents, he was making fun of me, like, ‘Oh, you got yourself a girlfriend,'” she said. “His number-one focus for us, besides loving us, was education,” Paris sweetly added.
