5 things to know about Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris – an LGBT advocate with US$100 million to her name
She’s sexually fluid, a multimillionaire and the eldest daughter of the King of Pop, but what else is there to know about her?
The firstborn child and only daughter of the late Michael Jackson, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, 21, was shielded from the public eye when she was young, but she stepped boldly into the spotlight at her father’s memorial soon after his death in 2009.
At just 11 years old, she tearfully told those who came to pay their respects that Michael Jackson was the “best father you could ever imagine”. His death rocked her world, but she says she has learned to deal with the anguish. “I live life with the mentality of ‘OK, I lost the only thing that has ever been important to me.’ So, going forward, anything bad that happens can’t be nearly as bad as what happened before. So, I can handle it,” she told Rolling Stone in 2017.
Having her father’s money doesn’t hurt, either – Jackson is now worth US$100 million.
Here are five things to know about the King of Pop’s daughter.
She has nine tattoos devoted entirely to Michael Jackson
Many of her 50 tattoos are inspired by late music legends, including John Lennon, David Bowie and even Prince, but nine of them are devoted to her father. “Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust” has been seared near her clavicle, and from a letter Michael Jackson wrote to his daughter, she has “Queen of My Heart” in his handwriting on her inner left wrist. There is a logo from the Bad album and an image from Dangerous as well as a few others to remind her of him.
She’s a recovering addict
Her father’s death was devastating, and when she was 15 years old, she sank into a deep depression. She used pills and other drugs to numb the pain and admits to self-harming by cutting herself. She covered up most of the scars with the tattoos. “It was just self-hatred,” she told Rolling Stone. “Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn’t do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living any more.” She attempted suicide twice, and after spending time in a therapeutic school in Utah, recovered from her addiction and depression. She says today she feels like an entirely “different person”.