Paris Jackson, daughter of the legendary Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, has navigated a life far from the fairytale existence often associated with celebrity offspring. Her journey has been marked by profound loss, personal struggles, and a relentless pursuit of healing. Despite the challenges, she has emerged as an advocate for others, drawing strength from her own experiences. "I try to be supportive to touch on different degrees of service, not just on a grander scale," she told LVR Magazine in 2022. "The personal stuff is more day-to-day." Paris exemplifies that the scars of the past don't need to determine one's future.
The Heartbreaking Loss of a Father
Raised primarily by Michael Jackson, Paris shared an extraordinarily close bond with her father. His sudden death in 2009, due to cardiac arrest at the age of 50, left an indelible void in her life. Her emotional speech at his funeral resonated deeply with fans worldwide. "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, per the Evening Standard. "And I just want to say I love him so much."
Years later, the pain of losing her dad hasn't subsided. "They always say, 'Time heals,'" she told Rolling Stone. "But it really doesn't. You just get used to it." The circumstances surrounding Michael's death have also been a source of unease for her. His passing was ruled a homicide after his doctor, Conrad Murray, administered the anesthetic propofol, which, in combination with other drugs, led to cardiac arrest. Murray was jailed for four years, serving less time in the end.
A Complicated Relationship with Her Mother
Paris Jackson's relationship with her mother, Debbie Rowe, has been equally complex. Michael Jackson married Rowe in 1996, and they had two children, Prince and Paris. In 1999, Michael and Rowe reached an agreement where he would have sole custody of the children, and Rowe would receive a lump sum of $4-$5 million and $900,000 annually. "I do not wish to share parenting responsibilities with Michael because he is doing so well without me…"
Consequently, Paris grew up largely without her mother. "When I was really, really young, my mom didn't exist," she told Rolling Stone. After receiving treatment for mental health issues as a teenager, Paris began researching Rowe online and decided to contact her. Appearing on "Red Table Talk" in 2021, she opened up about reuniting with her mom at 15. "It's cool," she said. "I mean like getting to know her, seeing how similar we are, getting into what kind of music she really likes…"
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Embracing Her Identity
Paris Jackson, who once dated model and queer icon Cara Delevingne, has been open about being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. But it took her a long time to embrace her identity. Representation is integral to LGBTQ+ youths' sense of identity and worth. Accordingly, a lack of diversity in the media proved damaging for a young Jackson, as she explained in "Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn" in 2020. Although her father was accepting of her sexuality, this atmosphere of tolerance dissipated after he died.
During her appearance on "Red Table Talk," Jackson opened up about struggling to accept her sexuality due to prejudice within her family (she was raised by her grandmother, who is a Jehovah's Witness). "My family's very religious," she explained. "And a lot of, like, homosexuality is very taboo, so they don't like to talk about it." Paris conceded that she has stopped expecting her family to put aside their religious beliefs, as doing so would inevitably lead to resentment. "But there were moments where it was really hard and, like, you feel alone."
Battling Addiction and Trauma
Paris Jackson began struggling with addiction as a teenager. In her interview with Rolling Stone, she revealed that she spiraled in the years that followed her father's death and began hanging out with people much older than her. "I was doing a lot of things that 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds shouldn't do," she said. Having attended a behavior modification school for her issues, Jackson said that the institution's practices ultimately exacerbated her substance use. Speaking to LVR Magazine, she criticized a lack of vetting at such schools, with students being given addictive medication. "There should be a better vetting process [in everything]: before you medicate … It's important in all kinds of situations," she said. "It could be as simple as a job, or as complicated as medicine or a weapon. Psychiatrists hand out addictive medication like candy without really vetting the patient." In 2019, she reportedly entered rehab for treatment for substance use. After leaving rehab, she was seen wearing a chip from Narcotics Anonymous that celebrated 30 days of sobriety.
At 14, Paris Jackson was sexually assaulted by an older male, who was a complete stranger to her. "I don't wanna give too many details," she told Rolling Stone. "But it was not a good experience at all, and it was really hard for me, and, at the time, I didn't tell anybody." At the time, sources told The Sun that her family was aware of the abuser's identity. In a sit-down with C Magazine, she also alluded to being subjected to sexual assault at her behavior modification school. She was interviewed alongside Kathy Hilton, mother of Paris Hilton, who previously told The List about her experiences of child abuse at a therapeutic boarding school. Accordingly, Jackson revealed that her experiences at school were comparable to those of the "Simple Life" star. "I went through some very, very similar experiences with those kind of teen places," she said. "I went to another [reformatory] school in Utah." She praised Paris Hilton for raising awareness of the extreme abuse that allegedly takes place at such schools. "She's been through a lot and it's amazing to see her come out of the other end…"
Financial Struggles and Cyberbullying
Suffering from money woes toward the end of his life, Michael Jackson was in severe debt at the time of his untimely death. Despite naming his children as beneficiaries in his will, they still haven't received the bulk of money from their colossal inheritance. Paris Jackson, her siblings, and her grandmother, Katherine Jackson (who is a life beneficiary of a portion of the trust), were blocked from Michael's estate. As stated in court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Katherine claimed that money was deliberately being withheld from her son's surviving relatives. "It seems clear to [Katherine] that the Executors are holding all of the assets in the Estate in order to keep control over them, and to avoid the more liberal distribution of requirements of the Trust," the documents stated.
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With the advent of social media, Paris Jackson found herself being cyber-bullied by her father's fans. "The whole freedom-of-speech thing is great," she told Rolling Stone. In 2016, she revealed that the bullying became extreme. After taking a two-year break from social media, she found that nothing had changed, leading her to ponder why she had become a target of vitriol. Paris has also received death threats from her father's fans. In 2023, for instance, she was told to kill herself after she failed to pen a birthday tribute to her late dad on social media.
Paparazzi Harassment and PTSD
Although Michael Jackson did everything he could to protect his children from the glare of the spotlight (he often made them wear masks in public), this ultimately proved an impossible feat. This continued after Michael's death. In 2017, Paris was chased by paparazzi while at Los Angeles International Airport. The paps repeatedly hounded her over her father's death, asking if she thought he'd been murdered. Overwhelmed, she covered her face and tearfully begged the photographers to stop flashing their cameras in her face. "This is the first time Paris has experienced paparazzi attention of this magnitude," a source told Entertainment Tonight.
On "Red Table Talk," she revealed that she struggled with paranoia and anxiety as a result of the paparazzi harassment. "It's always been pretty gnarly … I experience auditory hallucinations sometimes of camera clicks, and severe paranoia," she said. "And I have been going to therapy for a lot of things but that included … I'll hear like a trash bag rustling and I like flinch and panic." As a result of being pursued by the paparazzi, she has PTSD, which affects every aspect of her life. She credits EMDR therapy as being helpful in addressing her PTSD.
Finding Healing and Self-Love
In an episode of "Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn" in 2020, Paris Jackson discussed the stark contrast between being raised by her father and then her grandmother, Katherine Jackson. Under the care of her dad, she and siblings followed strict diets, for instance not being allowed to consume white sugar or white carbs (there has been speculation as to whether Michael Jackson himself had an eating disorder). But when their grandmother gained custody, they were suddenly free to eat whatever they wanted.
Over time, things have improved for Jackson. She credits modeling with helping her heal and subsequently embrace her appearance. "Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don't," she told Rolling Stone. "But there's a moment when I'm modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer's telling me â and I feel pretty." The self-loathing has also subsided, with music providing an outlet for her to channel her trauma. In fact, she has even be able to embrace self-love. "I'm at a point in my life where it's the first time I've ever truly experienced self-love," she told the Evening Standard in 2021.
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Coping with Loss and Addiction Through Sobriety
In 2020, Paris Jackson lost two of her close friends in apparent quick succession. Paying tribute to Noah, she alluded to their death being related to mental illness. "I'm sorry life was so hard on you, and the world so cruel," she wrote. "You deserved nothing but light and joy and love … It brings me peace to know you are now surrounded by those things, and no longer in pain. rest in transition, little brother. you will never be forgotten." She then paid tribute to Sofia, writing, "One [friend's passing] is already too much …" Though Jackson did not mention how Noah and Sofia died, she hinted at losing two of her friends to addiction in her song "Undone," which features the lyrics, "If you could just put down the needle / Mend yourself and make believe." In 2021, she discussed the meaning of the song with the Evening Standard. "That song was written about a couple friends of mine that are no longer with us, who I miss dearly," she explained. "It's kind of what I would tell them if they were here. I think about them all the time and I still feel their love with me."
"I've found that life keeps happening regardless of whether I'm sober or not," Jackson, daughter of the late pop legend Michael Jackson, wrote candidly. Paris Jackson has been incredibly strong to talk about her experience, inspiring many others like her, who have been victims of substance dependence in the past. Paris Jackson sobriety: Paris Jackson has been living a clean life after experimenting with drugs and alcohol for a long time. The American singer and songwriter took to Instagram to make the significant announcement: she has been sober for five years now. The celebratory post comprised a video montage of moments from her past, where the actor and model was seen drinking and under the influence of drugs that had started to affect her skin and her overall appearance, including her health -- both physical and mental.
"Today marks [five] years [of me being] clean [and] sober from all drugs and alcohol," the 26-year-old wrote in the post that was shared yesterday, January 7, 2025. While marking the crucial milestone in her life, the daughter of the late pop legend Michael Jackson also reflected on some lost moments: "To say that I'm thankful would be a poor euphemism. Other instances included her drinking alcohol directly from the bottle, looking visibly high and delirious, smoking, etc. "It's because I'm sober that I get to smile today. I get to make music. I get to experience the joy of loving my dogs and cat. I get to feel heartbreak in all its glory. I get to grieve. I get to laugh. I get to dance. I get to trust. I feel the sun on my skin and its [warmth]. She also stated that it was on January 7, 2020 that she started her journey of sobriety.
It takes a lot of courage to go public with such information, sharing your lowest moments with fans and followers and presenting your vulnerability to the world. Drugs and alcohol addiction is a taboo topic that prevents millions of people around the world from seeking the help that they desperately need and deserve. Long-term addiction can ruin a person's health and destroy their life, while also impacting the lives of those around them. In order to destigmatise it, more people ought to openly talk about their addiction, especially celebs. The idea is to make people feel less isolated; to let them know there are others like them, who have made their lives better by starting a journey of sobriety.
Paris Jackson is celebrating a major milestone. The 26-year-old singer, who is the only daughter of the late Michael Jackson, got vulnerable about her sobriety journey in an Instagram Reel she posted Tuesday. "Hi, Iâm pk and Iâm an alcoholic and a heroin addict," Jackson â whose legal name is Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson â wrote in the caption. "Today marks 5 years clean & sober from all drugs and alcohol. To say that Iâm thankful would be a poor euphemism. Gratitude hardly scratches the surface." She continued, "Itâs because Iâm sober that I get to smile today. I get to make music. I get to experience the joy of loving my dogs and cat. I get to feel heartbreak in all (its) glory. I get to grieve. I get to laugh. I get to dance. I get to trust. I feel the sun on my skin and itâs warm. Iâve found that life keeps happening regardless of whether Iâm sober or not, but today I get to show up for it."
About the montage of short video clips, she wrote: "Hereâs a little snapshot of what has been possible because of my sobriety, and my god I canât believe I almost missed it all. Thanks 1 ⢠7 ⢠20." The footage, seemingly captured throughout the years, first showed her smoking and drinking Jameson straight from the bottle in various environments. Then it cuts to the recovery chips and coins and Jackson's life while sober from drugs and alcohol, as she dances in public, makes music, spends time with her dogs and kisses her new fiancé, Justin "Blue" Long.
She ended the video with a final message: "To those that helped me on this journey, if only for just the beginning, middle, or the whole time so far, you know who you are and I owe you my life. Thank you. 5 years. And a need for control," she said. The model and musician stopped taking antidepressants and other medications, which numbed both her positive and negative emotions, and explained that her depression "comes in waves." "Even though the lows are unbearably low, I would still rather (feel) that than nothing. Pain is way better than numb because at least youâre feeling something," she said.
In a 2021 "Red Table Talk" interview, Jackson described feeling thankful that her previous suicide attempts were unsuccessful and explained that finding self-love and practicing affirmations changed her outlook on life. "A lot of people do feel regret when they try and attempt suicide," she said. "There have been times where I did and times where I didnât, where I was upset that it didnât work. But I can say, several years later, that Iâm really grateful that it didnât.