Michael Jackson Friend: 'Paris Jackson Is My Daughter'

Mark Lester, a long-time friend of Michael Jackson, has said he believes he is the father of the singer’s daughter, Paris.

Lester, who found fame as a child actor in Oliver!, claimed he secretly donated sperm to Jackson to help the star have children.

In an interview with the News of the World, Lester said he was willing to take a paternity test to prove he is the 11-year-old’s father.

"It's been a secret for so long. In 1996 Michael asked me if I would give him my sperm and I said yes,” said Lester.

“It was a gift to him, no money was paid, it was something I was honoured to do. He wanted children so badly."

Lester is godfather to Paris and Jackson’s two other children, Prince Michael, 12, and seven-year-old Blanket.

He said he had come forward because his regular contact with the children had been severed in the wake of the singer’s death in June.

“My repeated phone calls aren't returned and emails go unanswered,” he said. "This isn't what Michael would have wanted.”

Similarities

He also noted similarities between Paris and his own daughter, Harriet. “So many people have commented on how alike Harriet and Paris look.”

Lester, who developed a close friendship with Jackson, said the singer first spoke to him about his desire to be a father in January 1996.

The former child actor said Jackson felt he “just couldn’t do it”.

"I mentioned the fact there are alternative ways of going about it. I think he'd already tried using his own sperm but it hadn't worked for him, so I made an off-the-cuff comment saying, 'Try mine!"' he said.

Lester claimed that he made a donation through a clinic in Harley Street, London, in February 1996.

Paris was born in April 1998 to Jackson’s wife, Debbie Rowe.

The 11-year-old spoke for the first time at Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles in July.

Michael Jackson memorial