LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Paris Jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of late pop star Michael Jackson, was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital yesterday after an apparent suicide attempt, her mother said, but her family later reported she is “physically fine.”
“Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention,” Perry Sanders, an attorney for Paris’ grandmother and guardian, Katherine Jackson, said in a statement.
“Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are,” the statement added. “It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you.”
Pop singer Jackson died in 2009 at age 50 from a lethal dose of surgical anesthetic propofol while preparing for his “This Is It” series of concerts in London.
The Jackson family’s wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live is currently at trial in Los Angeles and family attorneys have been expected to call Paris as a witness.
Paris’ mother, Debbie Rowe, told entertainment TV program “Entertainment Tonight” that her daughter attempted suicide and had “a lot going on (lately).”
“We appreciate everyone’s thoughts for Paris at this time and their respect for the family’s privacy,” an attorney for Rowe said in a statement.
Celebrity website TMZ.com, which first reported the suicide attempt, said Paris had been taken from her family’s home in Calabasas, California, by ambulance at about 2 a.m. time, citing unnamed sources.
Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies responded to a medical situation in Calabasas at 1:27 a.m., sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore said, declining to provide additional details because of privacy laws.
Jackson was married to Rowe from 1996 to 1999, and the couple had two children together, Prince Michael in 1997 and Paris in 1998. Jackson later had a third child, Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket.
Rowe turned over full custody of the children to Jackson as part of their divorce but she had recently rekindled her relationship with Paris.
Jackson’s children live under the custody of their 83-year-old grandmother, Katherine, and their cousin, T.J. Jackson.