Paris Jackson was just 12 years old when she sat down with Oprah Winfrey to talk about her dad.
She wasn’t alone. Her big brother Prince and their little brother, then called Blanket and now known as Bigi, were right there with her. So was their grandmother, Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson. The interview aired on Nov 8, 2010.
The kids were asked what life with Michael Jackson was really like at home. And Paris described him as “just a normal dad.”
That might sound funny coming from the daughter of the King of Pop. But listen to her stories and you start to see what she meant. “Sometimes he would take me to a museum, because we both loved art,” she said. She also remembered how they would “play tag outside,” and that “He got us Kenya four years ago.” Kenya was the family dog.
Oprah’s own network later counted this interview at No. 17 on a TV Guide top 25 list. It’s a chance to see Michael’s children together as kids, speaking for themselves.
Oprah’s interview with Michael Jackson’s children
Now think about Las Vegas for a second. It’s a city packed with big shows, and Michael could have taken his kids to see anything in town.
But the Vegas night Paris treasured happened somewhere much quieter.
Up on a roof, looking out at the lights.
According to ABC News, Paris told Oprah, “One time we were on the roof of the Luxor in Las Vegas, just saw all the city lights.” Then came the best part. “We were eating Snickers, we had some soda.”
A dad and his kids with candy bars and soda, watching the city lights. It doesn’t get much more ordinary than that, and that’s why it’s so sweet. (Another write-up of the same interview words her memory a little differently, so the exact roof is a bit of a mystery.)
For anyone who wants to see the full sit-down, this longer fan upload has the whole interview plus behind-the-scenes moments. It’s the best way to hear Paris and her brothers tell their memories in their own words.
The full Oprah interview with Katherine and the kids
Paris isn’t the only one who remembers quiet nights like that.
In April 2026, her brother Prince spoke with Australia’s “Sunrise” TV show about growing up with his dad. He said growing up at Neverland “felt like your own personal Disneyland.” He also remembered how Michael would wake him up at night so they could go look at the stars together.
On those nights, Michael would talk. “Sometimes he’d tell me stuff about his life as a child or growing up or what he wants for me as I grow up,” Prince said.
He didn’t hide how much those talks still mean to him. “Those are the moments that I miss and that I cherish,” he said.
Prince also put it another way: “when he played with us, he played with us.”
Paris told her story at 12, and Prince told his more than 15 years later. Both of them went back to the same kind of memory, a quiet night with their dad under the lights or the stars.