The 25-year-old model is Michael Jackson’s middle child; she has two brothers, Prince, who is older, and Bigi, who is younger.
She has pursued a career in music in the same direction as her father.
As the daughter of the King of Pop, Paris has been in the spotlight from a young age – something that the ‘Thriller’ singer also experienced.
Jackson found fame as part of the band The Jackson 5 – alongside his siblings – before becoming one of the biggest solo artists of all time.
Despite later in life having fair skin, the ‘Billie Jean’ singer was African-American and had a darker complexion when he first became famous.
It had been reported that he suffered from vitiligo, a chronic condition characterised by the emergence of depigmented white patches on the skin, as per the NHS – which is what caused Jackson’s skin to go lighter as he got older.
With Paris’ father’s African-American heritage in mind, she has shared that she identifies as a Black woman.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2017, she explained: “[Michael] would look me in the eyes and he’d point his finger at me and he’d be like, ‘You’re Black. Be proud of your roots’.
“And I’d be like, ‘OK, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’. So I just believe what he told me. ‘Cause, to my knowledge, he’s never lied to me.”
At the time of her comments, Paris was subject to backlash – with talk show host Wendy Williams calling it ‘cute’.
Williams said: “I get that she considers herself Black and everything, but I’m just talking about the visual because you know… Black is not what you call yourself, it’s what the cops see you when they got steel to your neck on the turnpike.
“It’s what they see. But that’s cute and good for her.”
In a rare conversation with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey, the ‘Man In The Mirror’ singer personally acknowledged his own experience with the skin condition – but said he was proud of his African-American heritage.
He said: “I’m a Black American. I am proud to be a Black American. I am proud of my race, and I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity of who I am.
“This is the situation, I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin. It is something I cannot help, OK?
“But when people make up stories that I don’t want to be what I am it hurts me. It’s a problem for me that I can’t control.”
