Paris Jackson, one of King Of Pop Michael Jackson’s three children, is starting to give the world a glimpse into her life, and what it’s like to be the kid of one of the most famous people in the world. Not surprisingly, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Paris says she didn’t understand why her father made her and her siblings wear masks when they were in public with him; they were too young to comprehend their father’s enormous fame and what it could mean for their lives if everyone knew what the children looked like. Now, she says, she understands, and although it hasn’t helped with school bullies, it did help her, Blanket, and Prince have somewhat normal childhoods.
“When we went out without him, we wouldn’t be recognized,” she explained. “He told us that when he was younger, he didn’t really have a childhood. He would always be stuck in the studio singing while the kids were out playing. He wanted us to have that … we had a normal childhood.”
Jackson has famously spoken out against his controlling father in the past, saying he was never allowed to do the things normal kids did once the Jackson Five took off, making them a family full of superstars.
Unfortunately, there’s only so much one can do to protect their kids against the general public, and because the kids are now school age, they are bearing the brunt of their peers’ cruelty, especially since Michael’s death and the rumors swirling around the cause.
Paris says she will push away someone if she feels their friendship is fake, and, like many kids her age, says she’s been the victim of cyber-bullying. But in a rare show of maturity, Paris says she tries not to take it to heart.
“If I feel someone’s being fake to me, I will just push away,” she says. “There are kids at my school that talk so bad behind my back and they don’t think that I can hear them… Sometimes I can hear them, a lot of times my friends will tell me what they say, and I’m like, ‘OK. Cool,’” she said.