This Jan. 26, 2012 file photo shows Paris Jackson, daughter of the late pop icon Michael Jackson, during the hand and footprint ceremony honoring her father at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. AP FILE PHOTO/Matt Sayles
LOS ANGELES – Late pop icon Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris was rushed to a California hospital Wednesday after trying to commit suicide, a family source told AFP, as her relatives appealed for privacy.
The 15-year-old tried to cut her right wrist with a meat cleaver and wrote a suicide note, according to celebrity website TMZ.
The teenager, whose father died in 2009, was put on a 72-hour psychiatric hold in hospital, the family source said, adding that Paris suffered from depression and had previously reported suicidal thoughts.
“She tried to cut herself,” said the source, requesting anonymity, adding: “She really feels like she needs her father… she had been in treatment once before for depression, so this is kind of like a real cry for help.”
“She’s in good condition, she’s not in critical condition.”
A sheriff’s spokesman told AFP officers had responded to a home in Calabasas near Los Angeles, where Jackson lives, over a “medical situation,” but refused to confirm the identity of the person taken to hospital.
The teenager tweeted a few times late Tuesday, including: “yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away now it looks as though they’re here to stay” and “i wonder why tears are salty?”
Her grandmother Katherine — who is currently suing the promoters of Jackson’s doomed last tour — said: “Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are.
“It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you. Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention. Please respect her privacy and the family’s privacy,” she added in a statement.
Debbie Rowe, Paris’s mother and the self-styled King of Pop’s former wife, said: “We appreciate everyone’s thoughts for Paris at this time and their respect for the family’s privacy.”
The teenager had “a lot going on,” Entertainment Tonight quoted her as saying.
TMZ reported that Jackson had called a suicide hotline, and the person she spoke to alerted emergency services. It posted an audio clip of the 911 call, in which a dispatcher is heard saying, “Overdose. Sheriffs responding.”
She was taken out of her Calabasas family house on a stretcher, it reported, adding that the teenager cut her right arm, and had also taken a large number of Motrin (ibuprofen) pills.
The family source downplayed media reports that Jackson was angry because she could not go to a concert by goth rocker Marilyn Manson in Los Angeles on Thursday — although she admitted that may have been a factor.
“It wasn’t because of that. It was just because of her depression. Probably the last straw she was told that she couldn’t go. ..It’s like a teenager, ‘I want what I want, I want to do what I want,” she said.
Paris — Jackson’s middle child, along with older sibling Prince and younger brother “Blanket” — has made a start in the entertainment industry, starring in “Lundon’s Bridge and the Three Keys,” a film in development.
The film’s writer/producer, Dennis Christen, told AFP in an email that they had not yet begun shooting the movie.
“Paris has been prepping her acting skills over the last two years and is getting very accomplished as a young vital actress. We have great hopes for her in this role,” he said.
Katherine Jackson is currently suing the promoters of Jackson’s last doomed tour, AEG Live, for negligently hiring doctor Conrad Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter over his death.
The 83-year-old has been in court for much of the last five weeks, but was not there on Wednesday.
Paris has been listed as a witness in the trial, which is expected to last several months, and which so far has heard a lot of the same evidence recounted at the Murray trial.
Originally posted at 09:51 am | Thursday, June 6, 2013