Oprah’s interview with Paris Jackson (+download)

You read about Oprah’s interview with Paris Jackson on this page. The interview aired on Sunday. Paris briefly talked about school, her father, and her interests.

During the interview, clips from her childhood home videos with her brother Prince alongside their father Michael are shown. In the first part of the interview, Oprah gives a short recap of past events and how Michael prevented photos of his children from being published in the media—a process that changed completely after his death.

She then goes to Catherine’s new home and talks with Michael’s grandmother about Michael’s absence. Catherine explains that although Henehurst—her former home—was something she loved very much, memories of Michael often made her cry. Catherine decides to move to a more spacious home where she can live more comfortably. In response to Oprah’s question, Paris says she likes Henehurst more than their current home because she actually considers it her real home.

Download: Part One

In the second part, Oprah begins her exclusive conversation with Paris. But before that, a video of her childhood films is shown. In this video, Paris blows out the candles on her birthday cake, and Michael asks her what she wants from the future. Little Paris says: “The same thing you do.” Michael: “What do I do?” Paris: “You dance and you sing.”

Download: Part Two

Oprah: When you go out, do you always have to have a bodyguard with you?Paris: Yes, unfortunately.

Oprah: What’s the difference between studying at school and at home? (Paris studied at home before going to Buckley.)Paris: It’s more normal and more fun. Socially it’s better, but there are also stories that I try to stay away from.

Oprah: I don’t know what stories are going on in eighth grade.Paris: Girls....

Oprah: Do they bully you?Paris: They try, but they don’t succeed.

Oprah: What do they do?Paris: At school or on the internet, they try to upset me with their words, but they don’t get anywhere.

Oprah: I’m surprised. I thought everyone wanted to be your friend.Paris: A lot of people don’t like me.

Oprah: I can’t understand why so many people don’t like you.Paris: I don’t know.

Oprah: Tell me why. I know you’re a smart girl, I swear.Paris: I don’t know what’s going on.

Oprah: Do you think they’re jealous of you?Paris: Maybe. I don’t know.

Oprah: Do you feel like people are taking advantage of you?Paris: If someone isn’t honest with me, I distance myself from them. Some kids at school say really awful things about me and think I don’t hear them. But sometimes I can hear them, or my friends tell me. And I say, “Okay, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

Oprah: Are you allowed to have a boyfriend?Paris: No.

Oprah: Can you go out with your friends?Paris: Yes.

Oprah: But security officers also have to be there.Paris: Yes.

Oprah: What do your friends think about that?Paris: Some of them think it’s horrible, but others don’t care.

Oprah: When you were little and you wore a mask on your face when going out, what was going through your mind?Paris: At first I was confused and didn’t understand why we had to wear masks. But now I understand why Dad wanted us to cover our faces. That way, we could go out for walks when he wasn’t with us without being recognized. He wanted us, as kids, to have a normal life.

Oprah: So you wore the masks only when you went out with him. And when you went out without him, nobody recognized you... Clever, clever... Do you think he wanted you to have a normal life?Paris: Yes.

Oprah: Do you think he believed he could pull this off given his fame?Paris: He had a little doubt about it. He told us that as children he had a hard life and was constantly busy reading in the studio while other kids were playing and having fun. And he wanted us to have a normal life. We always went to Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us were our favorite places.

Oprah: I’m thinking about what your father might have thought about you and your brothers being present at events and being photographed.Paris: I always wanted to act. I love acting. I think it’s amazing.

Oprah: Why are you interested in acting?Paris: I don’t know. You can show many different characters in front of the camera—it’s really fun. You become another person, and that’s really incredible.

Oprah: When we talked a year or a year and a half ago, one of the things that surprised me was that you said your father would prepare breakfast for you. (here). That’s very interesting because the world doesn’t know your father as a dad who made breakfast for his kids. What else can you tell me about your normal relationship with each other?

Paris: Now I see the kids next to their parents and compare them to my father, and I realize that Dad was a completely normal father when he was with us. If we did something bad, he would punish us. Of course he didn’t call it punishment—he just said we were grounded. That happened more to me and Blanket because we would fight with each other.

Oprah: Are you close with your brothers?Paris: Yes.

Oprah: Has that closeness grown since your father passed away?Paris: Well Prince has pulled back a little—he’s a teenager, and teenage boys usually withdraw. Me and Blanket have discovered a lot of similarities between us—more than I thought—and we’ve become closer.

Oprah: At what age did you realize your father wasn’t like the other fathers—that he was Michael Jackson and famous?Paris: I was about 9 or 10 when I realized, “Wow, he’s really a big deal.”

Oprah: When you first saw his performance on stage and you thought, “This is my father,” what did you feel?Paris: I said, “Wow, this is my dad, this is my dad...” And nobody believed me.

Oprah: Can you tolerate listening to his songs?Paris: Yes.

Oprah: Do they calm you down?Paris: Yes.

Oprah: If you’re somewhere and suddenly you hear one of his songs, what do you do?Paris: I start dancing.

Oprah: But doesn’t it make you sad?Paris: No. Of course I also listen to sad songs like “You Are Not Alone,” which makes me cry.

Oprah: How is your life without him?Paris: I think we’re doing okay. Of course me and my brothers deeply miss him...

Oprah: Do memories come back easily and quickly, or do they fade a bit so it becomes easier to bear?Paris: It never becomes easy... Sometimes at school I suddenly smile because something makes me remember him. I have a lot of memories—I can’t choose between them; they flow through my mind... (Paris becomes emotional)

After the interview ended, Paris introduced her close friend—someone who says she knows all of Paris’s secrets—to Oprah: Michaela.

Michaela told Oprah that she’s proud of Paris and her new film, “Landens Bridge.”

Source: eMJey.com