Just 48 hours before being rushed from her family’s home to a nearby hospital In Los Angeles after a possible suicide attempt, Paris Jackson posted a lengthy video of herself applying makeup.
Sources close to the Jacksons confirm that the 15-year-old was taken by stretcher from the home she shares with her grandmother and two brothers, after family members found her passed out in her room. The 911 call from inside the Jackson residence indicated that it may have been a drug overdose, while sources at the hospital say the young girl had multiple cuts on her wrists. The cuts didn’t appear to be fresh.
Even more disturbing is the suggestion that this wasn’t her first attempt at suicide.
“She’s given the family a scare before,’’ said a close family friend.
“All of Michael’s kids have had a rough time since their dad died, but Paris is the most sensitive of the three. She takes everything to heart, and the last year of family strife hasn’t given her much time to regroup or heal.’’
Both Paris Jackson and her older brother, Prince Michael, are expected to testify in their grandmother Katherine’s ongoing lawsuit against AEG, the concert-promotion giant responsible for Michael Jackson’s last tour. The suit is seeking millions of dollars and alleges the company was also responsible for Michael Jackson’s death from an overdose.
“That has her scared and rightfully so,’’ said the family friend.
“The CEO of AEG has already implied Katherine is a fraud trying to extort money. What will he say about the kids? They are constantly being judged or at least they feel they are.’’
Adding more fuel to Paris Jackson’s emotional angst is the looming four-year anniversary of her beloved father’s death on June 25.
Paris Jackson has been hospitalized with multiple cuts on her wrists
“It’s been nonstop drama for them in a way since Michael died,’’ said the friend.
“They were jolted from one reality to a very different one when he died. They have all this freedom now that I’m not sure they knew how to handle.’’
While their father lived, Paris Jackson and her two brothers were kept far away from Hollywood and the media spotlight.
Michael Jackson often employed masks to hide their true identities and had them homeschooled in an effort to minimize their contact with the outside world. The megastar was often criticized for his child-rearing tactics, but many inside the immediate Jackson family say Michael had very valid reasons for his actions.
“Michael wanted his kids protected and away from the spotlight,’’ said one Jackson family member.
“He didn’t want them ridiculed and judged. He’d had enough of that for a lifetime and didn’t want his children to face that same fate. Unfortunately, a lot of people around those kids have forgotten Michael’s wishes for his children.’’
After Michael Jackson’s death, all three children were immediately transferred into a brand-new world of private schools, interviews with Oprah Winfrey, and social media. Paris Jackson quickly became the queen of Twitter and Facebook, frequently posting personal insights into her thoughts and family happenings. She’s also become quite the style icon after cutting her long hair into a funky bob and regularly sporting her signature smoky eye makeup whenever photographed.
Last year, Paris Jackson famously alerted the world through her tweets that her grandmother and primary guardian Katherine had been taken away from the home they share with her and not heard from for days. Those tweets led to a widespread investigation of Katherine Jackson’s disappearance but also caused a major riff between her aunts and uncles.
Several of Paris Jackson’s aunts and uncles say they removed their elderly mother from her home last summer because they feared Katherine Jackson’s health was being compromised by the stress of Michael’s death and legal woes. The problem was they didn’t bother to inform Michael Jackson’s children of their plan and that resulted in several of those aunts and uncles being barred from their mother’s home per a court order.
“Paris wouldn’t be on Twitter or Facebook if Michael was alive,’’ said a family member.
“He’d talk to her to see what was wrong, but he wouldn’t allow her to tell the world anything. That only opens the door to more problems. But Katherine is in her 80s and really just wants the kids to be happy, so she lets them do what all other kids are doing. Problem is, they aren’t like other kids.’’
While she has more than a million followers on Twitter, Paris Jackson is often met with mean-spirited messages that attack her looks and famous father.
“Janet and others wanted her to get off Twitter for that reason alone,’’ said one family member.
“Why invite people to come into your life and insult you when you already have so much against you? But Paris wants to be like any other teenage girl.’’
Paris Jackson’s last tweet on Tuesday posted a lyric from Beatles’ Yesterday : “Yesterday all my troubles seem so far away now it looks though they are here to stay.’’
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British actor Mark Lester, godfather to all Michael Jackson’s kids, has vowed to have DNA tests to prove he is the father of Jacko’s three children, the Sunday People reported.
Mark Lester, 54, believes there is a “good possibility” he is their biological dad.
The former child star, who was Michael Jackson’s best pal for 30 years, donated sperm to the superstar a year before the singer’s first child, Prince Michael, was born.
Now Mark Lester, who has not been allowed to see Prince Michael, 16, Paris, 15, and Blanket, 11, since Michael Jackson’s death in June 2009, has sent them a message: “I’m here, come and visit England, we’ll look after you.”
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday People, Mark Lester said: “After Michael asked me to donate sperm for him I completely forgot about it.
“He was a great dad to them, brought them up and was brilliant with the kids so I just didn’t go there but there is obviously a good possibility (that I could be the biological father).
“I wouldn’t have a DNA test without the children’s permission but when the children come of age, and it’s not far away, and they decide they want me to do it then I will. It is up to them.
“I don’t want to tell them what to do. I just want to reconnect and be the godfather that Michael made me.”
In his first interview for almost four years, father-of-four Mark Lester says the resemblance between his 18-year-old daughter Olivia and Michael Jackson’s girl Paris is striking.
And young Prince Michael had an astonishing similarity to Mark Lester when he was a child star. But the actor now feels “locked out” by the Jackson family following claims he is the dad. Dozens of his calls have gone unanswered.
Last month Mark Lester was invited to Los Angeles by Michael Jackson’s former manager Dieter Weisner only to discover it would not be possible to see the children. The kids are set to take the stand as witnesses in a $40 billion lawsuit brought against concert promoter AEG Live.
Michael Jackson’s family claim AEG, which organized his 50 farewell gigs planned for London’s O2 Arena, ignored health fears about the singer.
Mark Lester says he would happily give evidence to defend his friend of 30 years. He said: “Michael was a great friend to me and I would defend his name in the court case if I have to.”
He first met Michael Jackson in 1978 at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, North London, where the singer was performing with the Jackson 5.
The pair, then both 20, immediately hit it off, sharing burgers and soft drinks and chatting for over three hours.
Mark Lester, godfather to all Michael Jackson’s kids, has vowed to have DNA tests to prove he is the father of Jacko’s three children
When Michael Jackson flew back to America, they kept a long-distance friendship. The singer often phoned Mark Lester at 3 a.m. for a chat because he couldn’t grasp the different time zones.
Mark Lester, who shot to fame at the age of 8 when he starred in the Lionel Bart film Oliver!, said: “We ended up great friends. Michael had so many people and security around him but had very few people that knew him really closely. I became one of those lucky few.
“Michael lived in a bubble. He barely knew any famous person outside the music world.
“He was once introduced to tennis player Boris Becker in Germany and had no idea who he was.”
In 1991 Mark Lester fathered his first child to first wife Jane. Just two years later another daughter, Harriet, was born and in 1995 he fathered his third daughter, Olivia.
Just months later, Michael Jackson called Mark Lester with an unusual request.
The actor said: “I remember Michael ringing and saying, <<Oh, you don’t have any fertility difficulties do you?>>. He was half joking so I joked, <<Oh, I just look at her and she gets pregnant>>.
“So then in a light-hearted way he said, <<Will you help me out?>>. Initially I thought he wanted me to do something with his ex-wife Debbie Rowe and I was thinking, <<I don’t think so>>.
“Then out of the blue about a year later, he mentioned sperm donation and I agreed.
“Michael set it up for me to turn up to a clinic in Harley Street, London to do it. It was weird.
“I went in a couple of times to donate but we never talked about it ever again.
“It was a really strange request but while Michael was alive I never gave it another thought. I didn’t donate to get something out of it.”
In February 1997, Michael Jackson announced the birth of his first son with Debbie Rowe, Prince Michael.
Paris followed in 1998 and Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket, arrived in 2002.
As the children grew up, a paternity puzzle arose amid speculation Michael Jackson looked different to his three kids.
He and his family vehemently denied claims the children were not his.
Mark Lester, who was made godfather by the superstar to all three kids in 2001, said: “While he was alive, I never ever thought the children were anyone else’s but Michael’s.”
Mark Lester’s children, including son Felix, now 13, became close friends with Michael Jackson’s kids and the two families became almost inseparable, spending school holidays and weekends together. Mark Lester, now a trained osteopath living in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: “Every time Michael came to the UK, which was at least six times a year, I used to take my children to see his.
“They always got on really well. Olivia and Harriet would play with Paris.
“We always used to stay at an isolated cottage at the Cliveden House hotel in Berkshire. I even took the kids to his home in the US. We were like one big happy family.”
Just three months after announcing the AEG Live tour at the O2, Michael Jackson, who was reported to be $150 million in debt, was found dead at the age of 50 after overdosing on painkillers and tranquillizers.
His doctor Conrad Murray was later convicted of manslaughter and jailed for four years.
Mark Lester said: “When I heard the news I was devastated. I never saw him take any drugs. I managed to get to America for his memorial service and that was the last time I saw the children.”
Two months after Michael Jackson’s death, his friend Uri Geller mentioned to Mark Lester that he could be the dad.
Mark Lester, who claims he had never previously thought about it, said: “Then I noticed the likenesses in my own children and his.
“My daughter Olivia looks like Paris. People have also pointed out similarities between myself when I was younger and Prince.”
But after hearing the claims, the Jackson family stopped answering Mark Lester’s calls.
Mark Lester said: “I just feel it is really cruel that our relationship has just been cut off. It is not what Michael would have wanted.”
Looking much older than her 14-years, Paris Jackson stole the show when she arrived at a red carpet event on Thursday night in Beverly Hills.
Paris Jackson even towered above her aunt, La Toya Jackson, as they dazzled in front of cameras at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
The opinionated daughter of legendary superstar Michael Jackson appeared with her aunt and two brothers – Prince Michael I, 15, and Prince Michael II, 10 – also known as Blanket.
Paris Jackson stole the show when she arrived at a red carpet event on Thursday night in Beverly Hills
Striking Paris Jackson wowed at the Mr. Pink Ginseng Drink launch party in a pretty navy blue floor-length dress, with a dark navy scarf tied loosely around her waist.
Paris Jackson accessorized her look with a diamond-encrusted jewel necklace and wore a small black handbag as she walked the red carpet.
Her brothers both looked perfectly polished in tuxedos as their aunt La Toya Jackson joined them to toast the launch party.
Katherine Jackson, mother of late megastar Michael Jackson, has been re-instated as guardian of his three children by a court in Los Angeles.
Katherine Jackson, 82, will share custody with their cousin TJ (Tito Jackson Jr.), who was made temporary guardian last week after she was reported missing.
She had not had contact with her grandchildren for ten days, but was later found at a spa in Arizona.
A hearing on 22 August will decide if the arrangement will be made permanent.
Tito Jackson Jr., the 34-year-old son of Michael Jackson’s brother Tito, stepped in as guardian for Prince Michael, 15, Paris, 14 and 10 year-old Blanket.
However, his lawyer Charles Shultz said he “in no way was trying to displace his grandmother” as “they respect each other”.
Katherine Jackson will share custody of Michael’s children with their cousin TJ, who was made temporary guardian last week after she was reported missing
Under the new agreement, TJ Jackson remains as co-guardian, with control over the staff and day-to-day operations of the family home.
Perry Sanders Jr., Katherine Jackson’s lawyer, has said the arrangement will allow his client to focus on the children’s upbringing and not on financial or logistics issues.
The co-guardianship arrangement would also allow either adult to serve as sole guardian if the other were no longer able to serve
In a sworn statement, Katherine Jackson said: “I am, and have been, very close with my grandson TJ and have relied on him to help me raise Prince, Paris and Blanket since the death of their father.
“While I was away, I assumed that (the children) would be secure and safe in the hands of the person who had essentially been acting as an informal co-guardian on many matters with me since my appointment as guardian.”
The Jackson family has been involved in legal and financial disputes since the singer’s sudden death in June 2009.
His will left nothing to his siblings and last week several of them signed a letter claiming it was a fake, calling on executors of the estate to resign.
However, Jermaine Jackson withdrew his support for the letter on Wednesday and issued a plea on Twitter for peace in the family.
He wrote that the family is still raw from Michael Jackson’s death, and his mother has endured incredible stress and pressures since then.
Katherine Jackson returned to the family compound near Los Angeles last week after publicly denying rumors she had been kidnapped by some of her adult children.
She said she was unaware she had even been reported missing during her stay at the luxury spa in Tucson, Arizona last month, from where she said was unable to communicate with the outside world.
Katherine Jackson claims she was not allowed access to a phone or her iPad after being sent there following doctor’s orders to rest, but was told that the kids were fine.
Court documents revealed that she had only learned she was the subject of a search when she accidentally heard a TV report.
“While there was a telephone in my room, the telephone was not functioning and I could not dial out,” she said in the documents.
“In addition, there was no picture on the television in my room,” she added, and said she had repeatedly asked to have the TV fixed.
“One morning I woke up to the sound of the television,” she said. “While there was no picture, I heard a broadcast that stated I was missing.”
Katherine Jackson made a statement to ABC News before she left Tucson, seated with her children Randy, Janet and Rebbie next to her, denying that she had been prevented from leaving.
“My children would never do a thing to me like that, holding me against my will,” she said.
“It’s very stupid for people to think that.”
Katherine Jackson also said she was devastated she had lost guardianship of her grandchildren “based on a bunch of lies.”
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said an investigator who looked into the children’s care found the late singer’s mother was an excellent guardian and the children love her.
Michael Jackson died aged 50 from an overdose of the surgical anaesthetic propofol.
His former doctor Conrad Murray was jailed for four years in November, after being convicted of the singer’s involuntary manslaughter.
