Paris Jackson and Willow Smith are spending some one-on-one time on the “red couch” for some pretty deep conversations.
On Wednesday’s (June 16) Red Table Talk, Paris told Willow, “I’m an open book” – and the host did not hold back on her questions.
Introducing her “long-time friend,” Willow says she and Paris met on the set of her mom Jada Pinkett-Smith’s movie Hawthorne – and pretty much bonded over their shared experience of having superstar parents. They also hit it off when it came to their love of music and modeling, and talking about issues like mental health, sexuality and body image.
Paris, who’s dated both men and women, opened up about her sexuality and how it’s affected her relationship with her family since she came out to her family at 14.
“I’m still kind of figuring it out,” she shared.
“My family is very religious and homosexuality is just very taboo and they don’t like to talk about it,” Paris explained. “It’s not really accepted.”
The 23-year-old musician added, “I’ve gotten to a point where I respect them and I have love for them… I respect their beliefs. I respect their religion.”
“Right now, I’m at a point where, to expect them to put aside their culture and their religion, like, expectations lead to resentments,” she continued, concluding with, “What people think about me isn’t my business.”
While she felt “alone” and “excluded” at first, it was her close bond with her brothers, Prince and Blanket (a.k.a. Prince Michael II), and longtime family friend Omer Bhatti and how they’ve supported her in that aspect of her journey that helped her through.
“They’ve always been super-supportive,” she says.
She then shared how, when they were in high school, Prince joined student-run GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) club to better understand and support her, adding, “Not a lot of people can say they have siblings that support them like that.”
Growing up with the King Of Pop for a dad has also greatly impacted her emotional and mental well-being. During their talk, Paris shared that her battle with social anxiety “has always been pretty gnarly,” and her anxiety is manifesting itself in concerning ways.
“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,” Paris shared. “I’ll hear a trash bag rustling and flinch in panic.”
“I’ve been going to therapy. For a lot of things, but that included,” she admitted.
