Paris Jackson was 14 when she sat down with Oprah Winfrey and talked about what it was really like to grow up as Michael Jackson’s daughter.
The interview aired on Sunday, June 10, 2012, on “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” Oprah’s show on her OWN network. She spoke about her dad as a father first. This short preview from OWN gives you a feel for the sit-down before you hear what she shared.
A first look at Paris Jackson’s interview with Oprah
You’d think Michael’s kids had everything a child could ask for. In a way, they did. Neverland, the family’s ranch in California, had a zoo and amusement park rides. Paris’s brother Prince described it on the TV show “Sunrise” this year: “It felt like your own personal Disneyland.”
So when Paris talked about the family’s favorite places to go, you might expect something fancy. A private island, maybe, or a VIP tour somewhere far away.
Paris had a different answer, and it explained a lot about the way her dad raised them.
She told Oprah that her face was only covered when she was out with her father. When the kids went out without him, nobody knew who they were. Paris talks about growing up with her face hidden in public in this clip, and it’s the key to understanding the rest of her story.
Paris explains why her face was covered as a child
“When we went out without him, we wouldn’t be recognized and could have a normal childhood,” Paris said, according to Yahoo.
And where did a normal childhood take them?
“Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us were our favorite places to go,” she said, as Yahoo reported it.
That’s right. Michael Jackson’s kids, with rides and animals back home, loved the same pizza-and-games spot and the same giant toy store that millions of American kids begged their parents to visit. If you ever sat through a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party with your own kids or grandkids, you’ve been exactly where the King of Pop’s children wanted to be.
Paris said there was a reason this mattered so much to her father. He wanted them to have something he missed.
“He told us when he was younger, he didn’t really have a childhood,” she told Oprah.
“He would always be stuck in the studio singing, while other kids were out playing.”
So he made sure his kids got to go out and play. In this clip, Paris tells Oprah why she thinks of Michael as a regular dad.
Paris Jackson tells Oprah her dad was a “normal” father
It’s a sweet picture of a superstar dad who just wanted his kids out having fun. Paris shared more of her memories of her father with OWN, and this clip lets you hear more of them in her own voice.
Paris shares more memories of her dad with Oprah
Paris was only a teenager when she gave that interview. But she already understood what her father had been trying to give her. He’d spent his own childhood working in a studio. His kids got Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us, and the chance to just be kids.