Paris Jackson rains on Dior’s parade by storming out
Before May 25's Dior show, Paris Jackson looked delighted to be there. Photo: Getty
A month after reports her family fears for her health, Paris Jackson has dramatically departed a Dior show in France “in a rage”.
The actress and model – and Michael Jackson’s only daughter – had a VIP invitation to the cruise collection show held in the historic stables of a country chateau, along with model Alexa Chung and Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton.
Actual storm clouds gathered before the May 25 event, with a heavy downpour making the catwalk slick and dampening the spirits of front row fashionistas.
“With guests held up in rush hour traffic, the show finally began just as sheets of rain started driving down,” Women’s Wear Daily reported.
Jackson initially seemed to revel in the rain, with The New York Times reporting she “pranced in puddles barefoot for photographers before the show”, although she was snapped sheltering under her designer jacket.
Jackson and her makeshift umbrella. Photo: Getty
But as the first model hit the runway, the 20-year-old’s mood changed.
Dior’s vision was reportedly the problem: the famous fashion house recreated a Mexican rodeo with all-female riders performing stunts in a white sandy ring, and Jackson is said to have taken exception at the use of animals.
Jackson “huffed out barefoot, having earlier asked two assistants to help her out of her high-heeled sandals”, reported WWD.
“Whether the issue was animal welfare, or simply an extreme aversion to rain, was not clear.”
Harpers Bazaar had a more definite theory: “Not everyone was a fan of the horses though, as Paris Jackson was spotted leaving the show only minutes in, presumably out of concern for animal welfare.”
Whatever the reason, The New York Times disapproved of Jackson’s bailout from her prestigious seat, saying, “By the end, the only cloud that remained over the event was the jarring exit of Paris Jackson”.
Mia Moretti, soon to tour South Africa with Katy Perry, had a polar opposite reaction to Jackson: “The horses were beautiful – it represents the strength of human nature, the strength of animals, the strength of Mother Earth.”
Jackson’s reps did not respond to media outlets which approached them for comment.
Least concerned of all by the furore was Jackson herself. She posted a photo to Instagram after her departure, where she was standing in a giant puddle looking skywards: “Left early and did this.”
The sudden exit isn’t the first time Jackson, who made her big screen debut as a flirtatious criminal in Nash Edgerton’s action-comedy Gringo, has made headlines with her behaviour.
She poked her tongue out at photographers at last November’s Melbourne Cup (where she didn’t mind watching horses) and in April, posted what was described as “a series of disturbing videos”.
One showed her and model and actress Cara Delevingne “talking loudly, failing to complete sentences and staggering” and another walking along the edge of a skyscraper.
A family source claimed to The Times’ Page Six that family members were worried Jackson was on the brink of a “serious meltdown”.
She bit back: “So apparently people think I’m about to die … I don’t know,” Jackson said in an Instagram story in April.
“My therapist texted me about it laughing though, so that’s good. So I guess to all the family members that are talking to these news outlets saying you’re worried for me, when was the last time you called me?”
Jackson seemed to recover quickly from her Paris blowup: on Tuesday she posted to Instagram from Venice, raving about how the “artistry” of the Italian city had “moved me to tears on several occasions”.
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