Source: Jason LaVeris / Getty
Paris Jackson knows she had a special place in her father Michael Jackson’s heart. She says the pop icon adored her because she “was the only girl.”
Jackson graces the April cover of Harper’s Bazaar looking absolutely stunning (and shockingly like another musical icon, Madonna). The 18-year-old actress and model seems to be coming into her own and sat down with the mag to discuss how she wants to use her celebrity, and her special bond with her late father, who died when she was 11.
She says: “I’ve always wanted to kind of break off and do my own thing, just ’cause I feel I enjoy independence very much. When I was a kid, I was with my dad and my two brothers.”
Growing up in the shadow of her famous father meant a lot of time at home, she remembers: “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.”
At first, as a young adult, her foray into freedom was frightening: “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.”
But Jackson is determined to overcome her fears because “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.”
On Tuesday, Jackson seemed less than enthused about landing the prestigious cover, Instagramming a snap of the mag and writing: “When magazines lie to you and tell you they’re not gonna make the headline about something, but go right ahead and do it behind your back :).”
She later deleted the post. Online, the magazine’s headline reads: “Paris in the Spring,” though the picture she snapped of the cover had the headline: “Paris Jackson: ‘I Was Perfect in My Dad’s Eyes.’”
At the end of the interview Jackson verbally acknowledged that discussing her father so much is a sore spot: “All anyone wants to talk about is my father, and it makes me sad.”
Watch Paris Behind the Scenes on Star:
