Paris Jackson is explaining why she ended her engagement to music producer Justin Long nearly a year after publicly confirming their split. The 28-year-old musician says the decision was painful but ultimately necessary for her own happiness.
During the August 12th episode of Call Her Daddy, Jackson said she had tried to end the relationship more than once. She kept hesitating because part of her wondered whether staying longer might eventually make things better, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Jackson said conversations with a therapist, a clinical psychologist and a “whole council of people” eventually forced her to examine why she was staying. Their questions helped her recognize that a partner being a good person did not necessarily mean that person was right for her.
The conversation also revealed that Long was not Jackson’s first fiancé. She disclosed a previous engagement that had remained private and occurred during a period when she and the unidentified partner were heavily using drugs.
Why She Finally Ended Her Engagement to Justin Long
“It was a choice that I needed to make to be happy,” Jackson told host Alex Cooper. She said there had been times when she tried to end the relationship but stopped herself because of the lingering thought that things might improve if she held on longer. Jackson described herself as someone who needs to be “really, really” sure before making that kind of decision.
The people around her eventually began asking what Jackson described as the right questions about why she wanted to remain in the relationship. Us Weekly reported that Jackson said her answers were no longer convincing even to herself.
Jackson ultimately realized that her relationship non-negotiables were allowed to remain non-negotiable. She stressed that major needs still mattered even if her partner was kind and faithful. “Just because someone is a good person doesn’t mean they’re my person,” Jackson said. She added that someone being a good person who would not cheat on her was not, by itself, a reason to stay if important needs in the relationship were going unmet.
Jackson and Long announced their engagement in December 2024 after approximately two years of dating. She shared photographs from the proposal at the time and described their years together as an “indescribable whirlwind.”
In July 2025, Jackson confirmed that they had separated after photographs showing her crying prompted speculation that she was grieving her father, Michael Jackson, around the anniversary of his death. Jackson corrected that interpretation on X, writing, “Those are breakup tears.”
She Revealed a Secret First Engagement During Her Drug Use
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Jackson then revealed that Long was actually the second fiancé she had walked away from. “This is also my second engagement that I called off,” she told Cooper, before acknowledging that the circumstances surrounding the first one were very different.
She said both of them were “strung out on drugs” at the time, but emphasized that the relationship and her feelings for him had still been real to her. She also revealed an unusual detail about the proposal. The man had purchased her engagement ring using Jackson’s own money without her knowledge.
PEOPLE reported that Jackson nevertheless stressed how genuine the love had felt despite the unhealthy circumstances surrounding the relationship. Jackson has previously spoken publicly about her history of substance use and sobriety. During the same Call Her Daddy appearance, she discussed other experiences from that period of her life as well as the changes she has made since getting sober.
Jackson Says the Bar for Her Future Relationships Is Higher
She told Cooper she is no longer willing to overlook as many incompatibilities and believes she can afford to be more selective about future partners. “I’m not willing to overlook a bunch of things,” Jackson said, adding that “the bar can be raised a bit” because she believes it had historically been very low.
Whether another engagement is in her future is less certain. Asked about the possibility, Jackson said she did not know and explained that she now prefers approaching her life one day at a time rather than becoming consumed with what the next 10, 20 or 30 years might look like.
She was equally careful when Cooper asked about her current dating life. Jackson offered only one detail: “I’m happy.” “That’s all I’m going to say.”