Paris Jackson said that she regularly experiences social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder due to years of paparazzi harassing her and her famous family.
Jackson spoke about this to Willow Smith during a special one-on-one episode of Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch, released on Wednesday. “It’s always been pretty gnarly, my social anxiety,” she said. “I experience audio hallucinations with camera clicks and severe paranoia.”
Jackson also said that she has been going to therapy for “a lot of things,” including the false perception of sounds.
“I’ll hear a trash bag rustling and I flinch and panic,” Jackson said of living in fear that she’s being followed by paparazzi. “It’s just standard PTSD.”
Jackson, the 23-year-old daughter of the late musician Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, has been the subject of media attention since she was a child. When their father was alive, Paris and her two brothers, Prince Michael Jackson and Bigi Jackson (formerly known as Prince Michael Jackson II), often wore face masks that partly or completely concealed their faces in public.
Years later, Jackson told Oprah Winfrey that she understood that her father did that because “when we went out without him, we wouldn’t be recognized and we could have a normal childhood.”
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Since her father’s death in 2009, the paparazzi has continued to pursue Jackson. Some have even relentlessly chased her at airports. “I have nightmares,” Jackson told Smith, adding that she avoids going out during the day to evade paparazzi.
“I do catch it affecting my personal relationships, especially romantic relationships,” the singer added. “PTSD can affect pretty much every aspect of your life.”
Jackson said that her life in the spotlight has also resulted in distrust around other people. Everyone who steps into her house has to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
“It does a lot to your nervous system because you’re constantly in fight, flight, freeze, collapse,” Jackson said. “You’re constantly walking on eggshells, constantly looking over your shoulder. You have to sit up straight and act right. And if you don’t, it not only reflects on your reputation but your family’s reputation.”
“It does some serious shock,” she added. “I feel like there’s gotta be kind of permanent damage.”
Jackson isn’t the only celebrity who has been followed by the paparazzi. British actress Sophie Turner recently bashed the paparazzi for trying to take photos of her toddler. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have gone as far as suing for photos of their son Archie and they won.
