Paris Jackson – the daughter of late pop icon Michael Jackson – has recalled being sent death threats for not acknowledging her father’s birthday online.
The musician took to social media earlier this week to recall the harassment she faced from Michael Jackson super-fans, who criticised her after she chose not to post anything online on what would have been his 65th birthday.
Here, she explained the reasons behind her lack of acknowledgement of the event, explaining that when her father was alive, he would hate anyone celebrating his birthday.
“Today’s my dad’s birthday, and back when he was alive, he used to hate anybody acknowledging his birthday,” she told viewers in the video, which was posted on Tuesday night (August 29). “Wishing him a happy birthday, celebrating it; nothing like that. He actually didn’t want us to even know when his birthday was.”
“[But] there have been times where I don’t post anything for my dad’s birthday, and people lose their minds,” she added. “They tell me to kill myself.
“They’re basically measuring my love for my own father based off of what I post on Instagram,” she continued, also explaining that instead of posting online, she decided to commemorate her late father’s birthday while performing on stage.
Attaching a clip of the moment to combat those harassing her, the fan-filmed footage showed her on stage during an opening set for Incubus at the Las Colonias Park Amphitheater in Colorado on Tuesday. “It’s my dad’s birthday,” she began, speaking to the audience. “He put 50 years of blood, sweat, and tears, and love and passion into doing what he did, so that I can stand up here onstage in front of you and scream into a microphone. I owe everything to him.”
Returning to the clip of her speaking directly to the camera, addressing those sending her hate messages, Jackson then told fans that if they insist on celebrating her father’s birthday, they should do so in a way he would have appreciated more.
“There’s always ways to get involved with raising awareness for climate change, doing stuff for the environment, animal rights activism,” she said. “These were things he loved and was very, very interested in. I can’t speak for him… but I’m sure he would’ve loved that.”
Recently, Jackson has been acting as a support act for Incubus as they embark on their ongoing 2023 tour of North America. Currently, she only has one more date remaining for the live shows, the band’s closing show in Los Angeles on October 6.
Yesterday (August 30), it was also reported that Michael’s sons Blanket and Prince were spotted in Las Vegas attending a performance of ‘Michael Jackson ONE’ by Cirque du Soleil.