Paris Jackson got candid with Willow Smith, one of her childhood friends, about her family’s conservative views in regards to her sexuality on Wednesday’s episode of Red Table Talk.
Willow traded the famous red table for a couch so the two could have an intimate, one-on-one conversation about mental health, betrayal, self-harm, and the death of Paris’ dad, Michael Jackson.
During the conversation, Paris opened up about coming out to her famous family.
“My family is very religious, and a lot of, like, homosexuality is just very taboo, so they don’t like to talk about it. It’s not really accepted,” the 23-year-old said.
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“But I’ve gotten to a point where I respect them and I have love for them. I respect their beliefs. I respect their religion,” she continued.
“Yeah, but right now, I’m at a point where it’s like, to expect them to put aside their culture and their religion — expectations, to me, lead to resentments,” Paris said.
She then asked Willow to share her experiences with her own sexuality, “What was it like for you, discovering your sexuality and moving through that?”
“It was very weird for me because people were telling me online – before I even knew what that was–that I was a lesbian, that I dressed like a lesbian, that I talked like a lesbian, and all of these different things, and so just kind of seeing that at a very young age was like, ‘Is this a bad thing?’ Like, I kind of didn’t know how to react to it,” the RTT co-host said.
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In addition to their heart-to-heart, the episode also featured a performance of Paris’ song “Freckles,” which she describes as her “first and only happy song.”
Paris discussed launching a music career last year in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America. Her first musical collaboration was in June of last year under the group The Soundflowers with then-partner Gabriel Glenn.
In November, she released her first solo album titled “Wilted.” During RTT, she told Willow her debut album stemmed from what she called her “most intense betrayal.”
“It was the deepest heartbreak I had ever experienced, but also one of the most powerful rebirths that I’ve ever had and finding my voice and finding my sound and embracing being a musician, ’cause I was scared to do that for a long time,” Paris said.
Later in the interview, she noted music helped save her during tough times.
“There were some dark, dark times where I did feel like music was all I had,” the new musical artist said.
Watch the full episode of the Facebook Watch series below to hear Paris’ new single, as well as how she is continuing to honor her late father’s memory:
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About Jacquelinne Mejia
Jacquelinne Mejia is a writer and social media producer in Los Angeles. She can be reached on Twitter @JackieMejia.