Paris Jackson Says She Has PTSD From Paparazzi Following Dad Michael Jackson

Paris Jackson recently opened up and got personal about PTSD she’s experienced from when the paparazzi would follow her dad, Michael Jackson. The 23-year-old sat with friend Willow Smith on Smith’s family talk show, Red Table Talk, and discussed how the constant barrage of tabloid photographers left an impact on her that she still feels to this day. Jackson, the only daughter of the late King of Pop, shared that she lives with “standard PTSD.”

“I experience auditory hallucinations sometimes with camera clicks and severe paranoia and have been going to therapy for a lot of things but that included,” Jackson said. “I’ll hear a trash bag rustling and flinch in panic.” According to The AP, Jackson and Smith have been friends for some time, having first met on the set of Smith’s mom’s TV series, Hawthorne, which aired on TNT from 2009 -2011. The pair bonded over growing up as children of celebrities and found one another as supportive confidants. Fans can catch their full conversation when it airs on Wednesday’s episode of Red Table Talk.

Reportedly, Jackson will also discuss her sexual identity on the show, something she previously revealed that her dad “caught on pretty quickly” to when she was younger. During an episode of her Facebook Watch series — Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn — Paris said that her father lovingly “teased” her about her romantic interests. “I think he just felt the energy and he would like kind of tease me the same way that he would tease my brothers, like ‘Oh, you got yourself a girlfriend,’” she shared

Michael Jackson passed away in 2009 when Paris was just 11 years old. Now, Paris says that she feels grateful that her father was understanding and supportive of her identity as an adolescent. “I’m very lucky to have that, especially so young — I think I was like 8 or 9,” she said. “Not many children have that experience.”

Paris went on to open up about her romantic life, saying that she “never thought” she would “end up with a dude.” She continued: “I thought I’d end up marrying a chick. I’ve dated more women than men. Been with more chicks. The public only knows about three long-term relationships that I’ve been in, and they’ve been with men. The public doesn’t know about most of the relationships I’ve been in.”