Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 11:12 14 Aug 2026 GMT
Paris Jackson has explained why she and her siblings were made to use face coverings as children, while out and about with their father, Michael Jackson.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, after becoming a father to three children, Michael Jackson was never far from the headlines.
One particular tabloid fascination was around how he made his kids - Prince, now 29, Paris, now 28, and Bigi (also known as Blanket), now 24 - appear in public with masks or scarves covering their faces.
Following the singer's death at the age of 50 in 2009, his children were seen at his funeral and have maintained varying degrees of fame in the resulting years.
His daughter, Paris, opened up about why she and her brothers were often seen with face coverings, telling Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast that it was so they could maintain some level of privacy while existing within one of the most famous families.
The host asked: "Something so many people were obsessed with was how your dad would have you and your brothers wear masks and cover your faces when you'd go out in public. How did you make sense of that as a kid?"
Paris revealed: "It just made sense because it was like 'if you do this now then you can go to Chuck E. Cheese and be normal this weekend because no one will know who you are.'"
Alex then highlighted that it "really p***ed the press off," as they wanted to see the children's faces, to which Paris joked: "What doesn't?"
While Paris admitted that there seemed to be a sense that the public was "entitled" to their lives due to the family they were born into, she says she "always felt protected" as they had "security".
While things would often get "crazy" when they went out together, Paris revealed that she knew there was "an adult you could grab onto" at any moment for safety.
As well as protecting their privacy, Michael's former bodyguard, Matt Fiddes, claimed the star would use things such as face coverings and bandages on his nose to create headlines.
He explained to Metro that it was designed to create a sense of "mystery" rather than hiding his own identity, and have people guessing as to the reason why.
"He knew how to manipulate the media. He knew exactly how to get the front pages. He used to have a meeting as soon as he got to a [city]," the bodyguard explained.
"Ninety percent of the time it worked, by putting a mask on his face, or sticky tape on his hands – or tape on his nose was a favourite one. He would say he wanted his life to be the greatest mystery on Earth."
Matt also revealed on the Elite podcast with Lee Matthews: "He knew how to play the media and keep relevant.
"The sticky tape and the tape on his nose and the makeup and the fedora and the mask and the sunglasses...
"It was all staged. He wanted people to think his nose was falling off. It was allergy tape."
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