Michael was ‘free-love, hippie-type dude’
Paris Jackson, 24, is opening up more about her late father, Michael Jackson, sharing new, rare insights about the King of Pop.
The musician and model spoke with PopSugar about some of the lessons her famous father instilled in her before he passed away in 2009.
“I was raised by a free-love, hippie-type dude, so we were taught that beauty comes from the inside — and to this day, I still believe that,” Paris said in an interview released Thursday.
Her favorite way to express herself is with her many piercings and tattoos — most of which have no particular meaning, she admitted — but her recent years in the fashion and entertainment industry have led her to appreciate the artistry of makeup.
“All of the experiences that I’ve had in the last few years have gotten me to that point,” she says. “I appreciate the artistry behind it.”
She explained that growing up in the public eye as part of one of the most famous families in entertainment led her to have a complicated relationship with beauty.
“Recently, I’ve learned how to cope with it all by practicing self-love and affirmations and diving deeper into my spiritual life,” Jackson shared.
“It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I’ve started feeling really good about myself and my body, and feeling comfortable and everything. Those moments of self-love aren’t 24/7, but the bad moments are fewer and further between.”
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty was recently announced as the newest face of KVD Beauty and has walked on runways and red carpets for years, but she wants to help redefine the “standard template” of beauty using guidance from her dad.
The Jackson children rarely speak about their father but have shared sparse tidbits into life with the music legend in recent years. Paris previously spoke about how her father inspired a strong work ethic and eclectic music taste in his kids.
“My dad was really good about making sure we were cultured, making sure we were educated, and not just showing us like the glitz and glam, like hotel hopping, five-star places,” she told Naomi Campbell on her YouTube series “No Filter.”
“Growing up, it was about earning stuff. If we wanted five toys from FAO Schwarz or Toys R Us, we had to read five books,” she said. “It’s earning it, not just being entitled to certain things or thinking, ‘Oh, I got this.’ It’s like working for it, working hard for it — it’s, it’s something else entirely. It’s an accomplishment.”
When Campbell suggested that Paris was too famous to show up for model castings, she insisted that she is “a full believer that I should earn everything.”
“I need to … I go to auditions, I work hard, I study scripts, I do my thing,” she added.
Paris’ work ethic has proved to be fruitful as her career has taken off in recent years. Beyond runways, the young star has worked on high fashion campaigns, released an album and gone on tour.