Paris Jackson's life as she turns 23 – net worth, same-sex romance and troubles

Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson celebrates her 23rd birthday today (April 3).

But the King of Pop’s middle child has certainly had a colourful and troubled life so far.

She’s struggled with depression, drug problems and has attempted to commit suicide on numerous occasions.

“I tried to grow up too fast, and I wasn’t really that nice of a person,” she once said.

And that’s not half of the story, as the star was sexually assaulted, bullied by social media trolls and questioned regularly by doubters who believe Michael – the most famous artist of a generation – is not her biological father.

Here at the Daily Star we take a look back at Paris’ life after leaving the infamous Neverland Ranch.

Troubled times

A desperate Paris tried to kill herself aged just 15.

The troubled teenager, drowning in depression and drug addiction made an attempt to take her own life.

She survived the worrying ordeal but admitted in an interview only last year that she had attempted suicide “many times”.

Paris revealed she started self-harming as a way of coping following her father’s death four years earlier.

She started putting on unwanted weight and admitted she became addicted to food.

Self-harming was “a distraction from emotional pain”, she said in an interview with the Independent.

“Food became an addiction and then a cousin called me fat so I was like, ‘OK, I can’t do that anymore.’ And that’s how I fell into self-harm.”

In a revealing interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2017, Paris stressed her problems stemmed from “self-hatred” and “low self-esteem” and “thinking that [she] couldn’t do anything right, not thinking [she] was worthy of living anymore”.

After her last suicide attempt, she spent her sophomore year and half of junior year at a therapeutic school in Utah.

She believes the school helped her sort out her problems.

“It was great for me,” she said. “I’m a completely different person. I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like, teen angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help.”

Horrific attack

Poor Paris also shared that she suffered a horrible sexual assault the year prior to her well-publicised suicide attempt.

She revealed a “complete stranger” sexually assaulted her, but refused to give details of the attack in her interview with Rolling Stone.

“It was not a good experience at all, and it was really hard for me, and, at the time, I didn’t tell anybody.”

Paris also faced cyberbullying and has stressed in the past she struggles with cruel online trolling.

“The whole freedom-of-speech thing is great,” she says. “But I don’t think that our Founding Fathers predicted social media when they created all of these amendments and stuff.”

Romance

Paris suffered heartache last year when she split up with her boyfriend Gabriel Glenn after more than two years together as a couple.

The pair once lived in a van together but eventually it was claimed that the pair were “constantly butting heads”.

Gabriel co-starred with Paris in her Facebook Watch series, in which they talked honestly about their relationship.

Earlier in her life Paris dated Michael Snoddy, a 26-year-old drummer from the band Street Drum Corps.

“I never met anyone before who made me feel the way music makes me feel,” Paris said about Michael at the time. “He’s a really cool guy.”

More recently Paris has been linked with Into the Wild actor Emilie Hirsch, although she faced criticism on social media for the 13-year age difference between the pair.

And Paris revealed on her Facebook show that “[she] never thought [she’d] end up with a dude.

“Thought I’d end up marrying a chick or … I’ve dated more women than men. Been with more chicks,” she said.

The star continued: “The public only knows about three long-term relationships I’ve been with and they’ve been with men.

“The public doesn’t know about, like, most of the relationships I’ve been in.

“I say I’m gay because I guess I am, but I wouldn’t consider myself bisexual because I’ve dated more than just men and women, I’ve dated a man that had a vagina.”

Parentage rumours

Paris’ dad married dermatology nurse Debbie Rowe in 1996 and she was born just a few months later.

The couple had, what appears to be, a very unconventional three-year marriage during which they never lived together.

And Paris and her older brother Prince are both very aware of the doubts about their parentage.

But Paris and her sibling Prince have often been forced to bat-off suggestions they are not related to their music icon dad.

Paris, though, is certain that Michael Jackson was her biological dad.

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

“I consider myself black,” she says, adding later that her dad “would look [her] in the eyes and he’d point his finger at [her] and he’d be like, ‘You’re black. Be proud of your roots.’”

She added: “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.”

Rowe, who worked for the Arnold Klein clinic, declared she wanted to have Paris and Prince as “presents” to Michael.

She said that Paris got her name from the location of her conception, but her boss Klein and the actor Mark Lester, known for fame in the 1986 movie Oliver!, have both been rumoured to be Paris’ biological father.

Following Michael’s death on June 25, 2009, Rowe made statements through her attorney to deny a series of gossip reports, including reports that she was not the children’s biological mother and that she was attempting to bargain her parental rights for money.

Paris’ godparents are the Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin and legendary Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Speaking about her dad, Paris stressed: “He’s [Michael] brought me nothing but joy.”

Career and net worth

The Michael Jackson Family Trust is worth a reported $1billion, with disbursements being paid out to his kids in stages.

Paris is believed to be worth roughly $100million (£73.3m) and her and her brother Prince are believed to receive $8million (£5.86m) in payments each year.

But Paris has stressed she is fiercely independent and is a successful actress and model.

In 2018 she appeared in the movie Gringo and a year later the film Scream.

She has modelled for Stella McCartney but admitted in a magazine interview: “Plenty of people think I’m ugly, and plenty of people don’t.

“But there’s a moment when I’m modelling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer’s telling me – and I feel pretty. And in that sense, it’s selfish.”

Her dad wouldn’t have minded, it seems.

“If you wanna be bigger than me, you can,” she said he’d tell her. “If you don’t want to be at all, you can. But I just want you to be happy.”

Paris once admitted: “I originally wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Then I had this huge fear of black holes because my brother learned a bunch of stuff about it, and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, if you go into one you’re never coming back.”

Buddhism and spirituality

With all the problems she’s encountered in her troubled teenage years, it’s probably unsurprising Paris turned to faith.

She studied Buddhism for two years and found the religion helped her to get a grip of her life and prevented it from spiralling out of control.

Often seen posting snaps of her beloved dog and cat Frodo, Paris has amassed an enviable 3.6million Instagram fans and 1.2million Twitter followers.

She’s also amassed over 50 tattoos, many linked to her dad.

In an interview with Vogue Australia, she revealed she wants to use her famous platform to empower people around the world.

“I have so many causes that are dear to my heart and fighting for people, I feel, it my duty,” she told the magazine.”

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk