Paris Jackson

• 1. Introduction

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  Paris Jackson was 11 years old on the 7th of July 2009, when she stepped up to close the televised memorial service for her father, Michael Jackson. Into the microphone she said, "I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine." Her aunts, uncles and grandmother had been consoling her. She added that she loved him so much, then broke down and fell into the arms of her aunt Janet Jackson. Because the service was televised, viewers watched a child say goodbye. Today she is a model, actress and singer. How did a girl raised away from cameras learn to live in front of them? What did the years after that day cost her? And what does she say when she finally gets to tell her own story?

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• 2. A Promised Name

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  Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born on the 3rd of April 1998 at a clinic in Beverly Hills, California. Her first name honors the French capital, where she was conceived. It also honors an older pledge. When Michael Jackson, his sister La Toya and Kathy Hilton were younger, they agreed that any daughter among them would be called Paris.

  She was the middle child and the only daughter of Michael Jackson. Her mother, Debbie Rowe, is Jewish, which makes Paris Jewish by birth under Jewish law. Her older brother is Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince. Her younger half-brother is Prince Michael Jackson II, nicknamed Bigi and once known as Blanket.

  In 2000, Michael and Rowe divorced, and he received full custody of the children. Rowe has said that this was her intention and that Michael had agreed to it. Some reports alleged that the arrangement was an economic transaction for Rowe, because Jackson wanted a baby.

  Paris grew up at Neverland Ranch with her siblings. Her father chose Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin as godparents for her and Prince. On public outings, the children often wore masks so that the press and the public could not see their faces.

  That life of masks and ranch gates ended on the 25th of June 2009, when Michael Jackson died unexpectedly.

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• 3. Growing Up in Public

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  Her grandmother Katherine and her cousin Tito Joe Jackson, called TJ, took the children into their care. In 2010, Paris and her brothers sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Katherine and several cousins joined them to talk about life after their father's death. That year, Paris and Prince also went on stage at the Grammy Awards to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award on his behalf.

  At the Buckley School, an exclusive private school in Sherman Oaks, California, she studied alongside Prince. She played flag football and softball, and she cheered.

  In 2011, she signed on to star in Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys. This children's fantasy film was adapted from a book by Dennis Christen. It was never produced.

  Another plan was a documentary called Remembering Michael, which Paris, Prince, Bigi and Katherine meant to make in their father's memory. The hope was that fans would pay for it through the crowdfunding site FundAnything. The method caused an uproar among fans and the media, and Katherine shut the campaign down. In a sneak peek of the film, Paris said her father had promised to teach her his famous Moonwalk but never got the chance. No updates on the project have been reported since the campaign closed.

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• 4. The Hardest Years

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  By the age of 15, Jackson was using drugs intravenously, had been sexually assaulted by a stranger, and had tried to end her life more than once. She was then sent to a therapeutic school in Utah, where she spent her sophomore and junior years of high school.

  In 2020, she described what happened there. Her account came in response to This Is Paris, a documentary in which Paris Hilton describes abuse at Provo Canyon School in Provo, Utah. Jackson posted on Instagram that she had attended a behavior modification boarding school for almost two years. She said she was later diagnosed with PTSD because of it and still had nightmares and trust issues. She named the other girls she remained friends with and said they shared the same symptoms. In her words, "This is child abuse." She added, "Let's start with Provo and keep going from there."

  A different story circulated in 2019, when TMZ reported that she had attempted suicide by cutting her wrists and had been placed on a psychiatric hold. Other outlets repeated it. Jackson denied it in a reply to TMZ on Twitter, writing, "lies lies lies omg and more lies."

  On the 16th of June 2021, she appeared on the Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, interviewed by her friend Willow Smith. Jackson said being followed by paparazzi had also left her with PTSD. She said her mental health had improved. She had found ways to cope, and she listed music first, then affirmations and therapy.

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• 5. Screen and Runway

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  In January 2017, Jackson appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. In March of that year, she signed a modeling contract with IMG Models. Also in March, she made her acting debut with a guest role on the FOX series Star. She has said she took up modeling to grow her platform and draw more attention to activism.

  Her first feature film was Gringo, in 2018. On the 24th of June 2019, the eve of the tenth anniversary of her father's death, it was confirmed that she would join the third season of the VH1 series Scream. She also appeared in Habit, where she played Jesus Christ.

  On the 22nd of April 2021, it was reported that she had joined the tenth season of the FX horror anthology American Horror Story, in a role that was not disclosed. She went on to play Maya in the first story of the spinoff American Horror Stories, which premiered on the 15th of July 2021.

  The 75th Tony Awards, on the 12th of June 2022, brought her together with Prince. They attended in support of MJ the Musical, a Broadway show about their father. Myles Frost won Best Actor in a Musical for playing Michael Jackson, and the production took four awards in total. The siblings introduced a performance from the show.

  In September 2024, Jackson walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week S/S 2025 for Maison Yoshiki Paris, a brand created by the Japanese rock star Yoshiki. In 2025, she played Vanessa in an episode of Doctor Odyssey titled "Spring Break."

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• 6. Songs and Soundflowers

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  On the 23rd of June 2018, Jackson and the musician Gabriel Glenn played their first gig as a duo called The Soundflowers, at Canyon Sessions. They performed two original songs, "Daisy" and "In the Blue." She sings and plays the ukulele. Glenn sings and plays acoustic guitar. Their self-titled EP came out in June 2020.

  An earlier recording had already reached listeners. In 2019, she sang on "Running for So Long (House a Home)" alongside Parker Ainsworth, Butch Walker and Jessie Payo. The song appears on the soundtrack of The Peanut Butter Falcon.

  In 2020, she signed with Republic Records. Her first single, "Let Down," arrived on the 29th of October 2020 with a video. Her debut album, Wilted, followed on the 13th of November 2020.

  In 2021, a song by Jackson and Glenn, "Notes on a ghost," won Best Music at the Top Indie Film Awards. It was part of the soundtrack for The Passenger, directed by Alexander Bruckner. That year she also appeared on "Low Key in Love" with The Struts.

  On the 18th of February 2022, she shared the Lost EP. It includes the title track, made with Caamp, and two solo songs, "Breathe Again" and "Never Going Back Again." The video for "Lighthouse," released in June 2022, has a 1990s grunge look that pays homage to Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. On the 28th of October 2022, she released the single "Just You."

  The latest single in her catalogue is "Bandaid," from 2023.

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• 7. Labels and Causes

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  On the 13th of July 2018, a follower on Instagram asked Jackson whether she was bisexual. She answered, "That's what you guys call it so i guess but who needs labels." Later she wrote on Twitter that she had come out at 14 and that everyone had known for years. She said she had publicly called the LGBTQ+ community her own, even on stage. On Instagram she wrote, "And I'm not bisexual, I just love people for people."

  In July 2020, her docuseries Unfiltered: Paris Jackson & Gabriel Glenn took up the subject again. She said she had "dated more women than men" but would not call herself bisexual, since her dating history went beyond men and women. She refuses to label her sexual orientation.

  She describes herself as multiracial yet considers herself Black. Her father immersed her in African-American culture.

  On the 31st of May 2020, she joined the protests after the murder of George Floyd. She posted a photo on Instagram of herself holding a sign that read "Peace Love Justice." She is an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and the Heal Los Angeles Foundation.

  On the 6th of December 2024, she announced her engagement to the music producer Justin Long. In July 2025, she said the engagement had ended.

  That same month, she filed a formal objection to the Jackson estate's request for legal fees. She raised concerns about "irregular payments," including so-called "premium payments" for attorney time that was never recorded. She asked the court to deny the request until full invoicing was provided.

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