‘Why would he lie to me?’: What Paris Jackson said about Michael Jackson paternity rumours

The release of the Michael Jackson biopic has sparked fresh interest in the singer’s life – and, inevitably, long-standing speculation about his family.

Michael only tracks the singer’s life from the ‘60s through to 1988, meaning it stops short of covering the child sexual abuse allegations. 

It also means the movie doesn’t cover his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe or the births of his three children: Paris, Prince and Bigi Jackson.

Michael’s first two children, Paris and Prince, were mothered by Debbie, while his third, Bigi, was through an undisclosed surrogate. 

For decades, rumours circulated that the singer wasn’t the biological father of his three kids. Michael’s friend, Jason Pfeiffer, alleged in a 2013 interview with the Mirror that Michael confessed before his 2009 death that actor Mark Lester was the father of Paris and Prince. 

“Michael calmly said, ‘My friend Mark donated the sperm’. I was taken aback, but I didn’t think to ask anymore questions about the procedure,” Jason claimed. 

However, these allegations have never been verified and Michael publicly maintained that he was the biological dad during his lifetime. 

Paris Jackson shut down the paternity rumours

The same goes for Paris Jackson, who has been vocal about the issue and dismissed the long-running rumours. 

She addressed the claims for the first time in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, where she firmly shut down the speculation. 

“He is my father. He will always be my father. He never wasn’t, and he never will not be,” she said. “People that knew him really well say they see him in me, that it’s almost scary.”

Paris also addressed the talk about her appearance and claims that she’s white. “I consider myself black,” she continued, adding that 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.”

“Most people that don’t know me call me white. I’ve got light skin and, especially since I’ve had my hair blond, I look like I was born in Finland or something,” she continued, before pointing out that it’s 

What does she think about Michael Jackson biopic?

As for what Paris thinks of the Michael biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua, the singer and actress has called it “dishonest” and said she had “zero per cent involvement” in it. 

The comments arrived last September when Joe Jackson star Colman Domingo told People that both Paris and Prince were supportive of the film. 

Paris then took to Instagram shortly after, writing, “Don’t be telling people I was ‘helpful’ on the set of a movie I had 0% involvement in lol. That is so weird.”

“I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest [and] didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life,” she continued. 

“Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and godspeed.” 

Paris further elaborated in a video, where she said, “I wasn’t involved at all, aside from giving feedback on the first draft and then getting the feedback that [production] was not actually going to address your notes at all. 

“So I just butted out and left it alone because it’s not my project… A big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it. 

“A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”

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Featured image credit: Marc Patrick/BFA.com/Shutterstock/White House Photo Office/Public Domain