Earlier in the week, we told you that in a profile for Rolling Stone for the mag’s cover story, 18-year-old Paris Jackson revealed that she identifies as a Black woman. She said this, despite people’s questions of whether or not Michael Jackson was her biological father:
“I consider myself black,” she says, adding later that her dad “would look me in the eyes and he’d point his finger at me and he’d be like, ‘You’re black. Be proud of your roots.’ And I’d be like, ‘OK, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believe what he told me. ‘Cause, to my knowledge, he’s never lied to me.
Most people that don’t know me call me white,” Paris concedes. “I’ve got light skin and, especially since I’ve had my hair blond, I look like I was born in Finland or something.” She points out that it’s far from unheard of for mixed-race kids to look like her – accurately noting that her complexion and eye color are similar to the TV actor Wentworth Miller’s, who has a black dad and a white mom.
One person who finds her choice to identify as Black as a questionable one is, of course, Wendy Williams.
While discussing the “Hot Topics” on her show, Williams brought up Jackson’s appearance on the cover of the magazine, initially questioning why she was on it.
“She’s Paris. She’s beautiful. She’s been through a lot. But can we talk?” she said. “I mean real talk, she has not made her mark on her own. You can not be on the cover of one of the most prestigious entertainment and influential magazines in the world and just be ‘the daughter of’ and tell your story inside. She hasn’t made any music we know of. She’s done the modeling…but she’s not on her way.”
Williams then went on to address Jackson’s comments on her blackness, taking a serious turn and bringing up police brutality. This happened after she initially joked about Jackson being the first Black woman in a year (since Nicki Minaj) to cover Rolling Stone.
“I get that she considers herself Black and everything, but I’m just talking about the visual,” she said. “Because you know, Black is not what you call yourself, it’s what the cops see you as when they’ve got steel to your neck on the [New Jersey] Turnpike, okay? It’s what they see. But that’s cute. And good for her.”
Jackson caught wind of Williams’s thoughts on her decision to identify as Black. In response she reportedly said, “Well she didn’t birth me so.” on Twitter — according to TheJasmineBrand.com.
She also had this to say when someone on Twitter told her not to pay the talk show host any mind:
https://twitter.com/ParisJackson/status/824735566755307520
But according to Jackson, she’s not addressing any more questions or issues the press might have that deal with the things she said in the interview.
https://twitter.com/ParisJackson/status/824027031486664704
As for Wendy’s thoughts, if you’re interested in her two cents, they begin at the 3:55 mark:
Images via WENN and Splash
