Michael Jacksonās daughter Paris has revealed why she identifies as a Black woman.Ā
The 26-year-old model and musician is the middle child of the āThrillerā singer ā she has an older brother named Prince and a younger brother called Bigi.
As the daughter of the āKing of Popā, Paris has been in the spotlight from a young age and over the years, sheās experienced many public struggles.
Paris has revealed that the paparazziās fixation with her father led her to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is a mental health condition thatās triggered by a terrifying event ā either through experiencing or witnessing it, as per theĀ Mayo Clinic.
On an episode ofĀ Red Table Talk, Paris disclosed: āI experience audio hallucinations, sometimes, with camera clicks and severe paranoia and have been going to therapy for a lot of things, but that included.ā
She added that she has been doing eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EDMR) therapy to help with the PTSD, describing it as āvery effectiveā.
Jacksonās daughter has also been very open about her coming out experience, revealing that she doesnāt label her sexuality.
āI wouldnāt consider myself bisexual because Iāve dated more than just men and women,ā she shared.
While Paris has been open about her sexuality, she says it has been difficult to talk about with her āreligiousā family ā although her brothers have been supportive.
āMy family is very religious and a lot of, like homosexuality, is very taboo, so we donāt talk about it, and itās not really accepted,ā she explained to Willow Smith onĀ Red Table Talk.
āIāve gotten to a point where I respect them and I have love for them. I respect their beliefs. I respect their religion. Iām at a point where to expect them to put aside their culture and their religionā¦ expectations lead to resentment. What people think about me isnāt my business.ā
Like her father, Paris also has a music career, dropping an album titled āWiltedā back in 2020.
She toldĀ LāOfficiel Italia: āMusic is like the air I breathe ā it is awareness, it is being able to create something bigger than me and it is a way to express myself and externalise what I feel inside.ā
Jackson found fame as a part of The Jackson 5 ā alongside his siblings ā and became one of the biggest solo artists of all time.
Despite later in life having fair skin, the āBillie Jeanā singer was African-American and had a darker complexion when he first became famous.
It has been reported that he suffered from vitiligo, a chronic condition characterised by the emergence of depigmented white patches on the skin, as per theĀ NHSĀ ā which is what caused Jacksonās skin to go lighter as he got older.
Prior to his death, Jackson had a rare conversation with talk show host Oprah Winfrey in which he acknowledged his skin condition, saying he was proud of his African-American heritage.
āIām a Black American. I am proud to be a Black American. I am proud of my race, and I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity in who I am,ā he declared.
āThis is the situation, I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin. It is something I cannot help, OK?
āBut when people make up stories that I donāt want to be who I am, it hurts me. Itās a problem for me that I canāt control.ā
With Jacksonās African-American heritage in mind, Paris has now shared why she identifies as a Black woman.
ā[Michael] would look me in the eyes and heād point his finger at me and heād be like, āYouāre Black. Be proud of your rootsā,ā she recalled toĀ Rolling Stone.
āAnd Iād be like, āOK, heās my dad, why would he lie to me?ā. So I just believe what he told me. Causeā, to my knowledge, heās never lied to me.ā
Addressing her lighter skin tone, Paris said many people presume sheās white and is āfrom Finland or somethingā.
She would point out that other mixed-race people look like her, includingĀ Prison BreakĀ star Wentworth Miller, who was born to a Black father and white mother.
Following these comments, Paris has been subjected to a backlash ā with talk show host Wendy Williams even describing her words as ācuteā.
āI get that she considers herself Black and everything, but Iām just talking about the visual because you knowā¦ Black is not what you call yourself, itās what the cops see when they got steel to your neck on the turnpike,ā she said.
āItās what they see. But thatās cute and good for her.ā