Michael Jackson’s children might be turned into ‘performing monkeys’, their godfather has warned.
Jackson children
Oliver! actor Mark Lester worries that Prince, 16, Paris, 15, and Blanket, 11, feel the pressure to work in the entertainment industry like their later father did.
Prince has already begun a career in television presenting, while daughter Paris has landed a film role. Youngest son Blanket is also interested in movies.
‘Pushing them into the spotlight is definitely not going to make them happy,’ Mark, 54, revealed to British newspaper The Sun. ‘They’re going to feel like they have to emulate their father, which is never going to happen.’
The star claims he could be the biological father of Prince and Paris, as he was one of three sperm donators to mother Debbie Rowe.
While he feels eventually following in their dad’s footsteps may not be completely terrible for them, he wouldn’t recommend it now.
‘When the kids get older they will be able to make their own decisions. But to risk treating them like performing monkeys when they’re so young is wrong,’ he implored.
British-born Mark was thrust into the spotlight himself when he became a movie star aged 10.
Having been friends with Michael since 1982, he was present at Blanket’s birth.
He maintains that he has been cut out of the youngsters’ lives since their father’s death in June 2009.
‘The sad fact is they’ve been isolated from many of the people they used to spend time with,’ he reflected.
Paris recently gave her first interview about her legendary dad.
‘I have lots of memories of my father,’ she told Event, the Mail on Sunday’s new magazine. ‘He was an incredible father. We all loved him to death.’
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