Paris Jackson, the daughter of Michael Jackson (MJ), came under fire on August 29 for not wishing her father on his 65th birthday. Meanwhile, her brother and MJ’s eldest child and son Prince Jackson took to Instagram to share an old photo of their father with his three kids, himself, Paris, and their youngest sibling Bigi.
He captioned the post:
“Happy birthday dad. I miss you and I love you. You may be gone but not forgotten. You’re in our hearts each and every day.”
Not only that but Prince Jackson also shared more images and videos of Michael Jackson on his Instagram stories to pay homage to his father. However, Paris Jackson did not take to social media to celebrate her father’s birthday, following which she came under fire from the netizens.
However, there were also others who extended support to the model and singer saying that it wasn’t mandatory to make a birthday post and it was fine to celebrate the pop legend privately.
Meanwhile, after facing online backlash for missing her father’s birthday, Paris Jackson took to her Instagram stories to clarify why she did not make a public post.
She stated:
“So today is my dad’s birthday and back when he was alive, he used to hate anybody acknowledging his birthday or wishing him ‘happy birthday,’ celebrating it and all that.”
For those unaware, Paris Jackson is the only biological daughter of Michael Jackson.
Paris Jackson is the daughter of Michael Jackson and his second wife
Now aged 25, Paris-Micheal Katherine Jackson was born in April 1998 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles to Michael Jackson and his second wife, Debbie Rowe. She is the only daughter and the second child of the pop star and is named after the French capital where she was allegedly conceived.
Paris Jackson was raised by her father who earned full custody of her following his divorce with Debbie in 2000. She grew up in his father’s Neverland Ranch, California home with her two siblings: elder brother Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. or Prince, and younger half-brother Prince Michael Jackson II or Bigi (also known as Blanket). She however later reunited with her mother as a teenager after her father’s demise.
According to People, Paris Jackson remains close to her brothers as well as her mother.
Netizens offer support to Paris Jackson as she gets slammed by MJ’s fans for not wishing her father on social media
If Michael Jackson was alive, he would have celebrated his 65th birthday on Tuesday, August 29. However, his son Prince and his fans worldwide took to social media to commemorate the legend’s birthday and poured in their tributes on the auspicious occasion.
MJ’s daughter Paris Jackson did not follow in her brother’s footsteps, which is why she was slammed online for missing her father’s birthday post. Later, however, she took to her Instagram stories to share how her father hated observing his birthday and did not appreciate when people wished him.
She mentioned:
“He even didn’t want us to know when his birthday was as he didn’t want us to throw a party or anything like that."
Paris further mentioned how social media users these days require people to express their love and affection publicly or else they are called out or even cancelled:
“If you don’t wish someone ‘happy birthday’ via social media, it apparently means you don’t love them, you don’t care about them.”
She also clarified that there have been many times before that she didn’t post any on her dad’s birthday and “people lost their f*cking minds” and wished for her to kill herself.
“They are basically measuring the love for my own father based on what I post on Instagram.”
She wrapped up saying how she made a little video for the occasion and hoped that people enjoyed it. In the video, one can see her on stage announcing that it was her father’s birthday and appreciating all that he had done for her.
Following her backlash, many fans of her and Michael Jackson came to her support.
Here’s what some of them said:
What’s interesting is that, later in the day, in a different Instagram Story, Paris also mentioned how if someone is a “MJ superfan,” they should know that his father would have loved to see them not celebrate his birthday. Despite the backlash, she even suggested ways for them to mark the day.
“There are always ways to get involved in raising awareness for climate change, doing stuff for the environment, animal rights activism. These are the things he loved and was very very interested in…I am sure he would have loved that.”
In brief, the career of Paris Jackson
Paris Jackson is a model, actress, and musician. During an interview in 2020 with L’Officiel Italia, she said how music was like the air she breathed and helped her create and raise awareness of things bigger than her.
Originally, she wanted to become a nurse or a psychologist but later pursued fashion and acting. So far, she has appeared on magazine covers of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue Australia and worked as a model for Jean Pual Gaultier’s Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show.
Simultaneously, she has appeared in many films and TV shows such as Star, Gringo, American Horror Stories, Habit, S*x Appeal, and most recently in Swarm. She also entered the music scene with her former boyfriend Gabriel Glenn and was part of the singer-songwriter duo The Sunflowers. However, since the couple’s split in 2020, Paris has been creating music on her own, including her debut studio album Wilted and 2023 single Bandaid.