8 Eye-Opening Things We Learned About Paris Jackson Today

By Britt Stephens

Paris Jackson graces the cover of Harper's Bazaar's 150th anniversary issue, and the stunning 18-year-old gave a nod to her famous father, Michael Jackson, by sporting black loafers with white socks — one of his signature looks. Despite a pampered childhood, Paris's life hasn't been easy. The death of her father when she was just 11 years old has "left her scarred." Sadly, she tried to take her own life several times and entered treatment at 15. But things appear to be looking up: Paris was recently signed by IMG Models, will be making her acting debut in Fox's Star, and has been hitting the red carpet looking better than ever. She's set out to make a name for herself while also staying true to the values her father instilled in her. Here are the most enlightening things from Paris's Harper's Bazaar interview.

  1. She was her father's favorite: "I wasn't around a lot of other girls. When I was a kid, I was with my dad and my two brothers. Growing up, I was treated as the favorite because I was the only girl. I was the princess; I was perfect in my dad's eyes."
  2. Her sheltered upbringing kept her from experiencing the real world: "Once I got introduced into the real world, I was shocked. It blew me away. Not just because it was sexist, but misogynist and racist and cruel. It was scary as hell. And it still is really scary."
  3. She had very little contact with other kids, and has had to develop her communication skills: "The first 12 years of my life I was homeschooled, which means that the only interactions I'd ever had were with family members or other adults. [I] didn't have social skills. I had to force myself to learn so fast. For the past six years, I've been learning how to communicate. And I think I've gotten pretty good at it."
  4. Her experiences with online bullying have made her social media shy: "There are some days when I still don't want to deal with any of it. There are some days where I'm like, 'Nope, I'm not going to go online.' There are days when I'm too sensitive."
  5. She has realistic views about having kids: "Eventually, I guess. It's just the thought of bringing more life into the world we're current living in —are you kidding me? I'll spare them all the tears and drama."
  6. She wants to use her notoriety to make a difference: "It's a feeling of doing something important, that actually matters, that's going to impact people. Plenty of times I've thought about not doing anything in the public eye and having my own private life. Then I started seeing how everything in the world is going. And I feel like each year it's getting worse. I know there are a lot of people who would feel very blessed to be in my position, so I want to use it for important things."
  7. She's not comfortable discussing her father as much as people want her to: "All anyone wants to talk about is my father, and it makes me sad."
  8. She's ready to take on the haters: "Not everybody is going to be happy with what you do. If you're not happy with what you're doing, that's a problem. [But] if you're happy, who gives a f*ck?"