This article was originally published on Crafting Your Home. A human contributor also wrote and edited the post.
Pouring years of emotional energy into something you desperately want to work out, only to realize that holding on is doing far more damage than letting go, is a universal ache that almost everyone has felt.
We are often raised to believe that sheer endurance is the ultimate virtue, whether we are endlessly chasing a career milestone or trying to salvage a relationship that has lost its foundation.
But as Paris Jackson, the 28 year old musician and daughter of Michael Jackson recently demonstrated in a remarkably candid sit-down on Call Her Daddy, true emotional maturity often comes from recognizing when a situation no longer serves your well-being.
Opening up about her romantic history with host Alex Cooper, the 28-year-old singer and songwriter stripped away the usual Hollywood polish to deliver a raw, deeply relatable conversation about self-worth, broken engagements, and the hard boundaries required to protect one’s personal peace.
When ‘Good on Paper’ Isn’t Enough for Your Heart
Jackson spent significant time reflecting on the quiet breakdown of her second engagement to music producer Justin Long, a relationship that officially ended in July 2025.
Making the final choice to end that union was far from simple or impulsive; it was a heavy process weighed down by constant internal debate.
Jackson admitted that the primary hurdle in walking away was the persistent thought that perhaps if she just waited a little bit longer, conditions might eventually improve.
Reflecting on that internal loop, Jackson told Cooper, “It was a choice that I needed to make to be happy”. She expanded on the doubt that so often keeps people stuck, noting, “There were times when I did try and end it, but there was this little voice being like, ‘What if however long down the line?’
This is a voice that a lot of us have, of, ‘If I had just hung in there a little bit longer, it would have gotten better.’ I’m the person that needs to be sure, really, really needs to be sure”.
What makes her perspective particularly resonant is her refusal to paint her ex-fiancé as a villain. In entertainment culture, romantic splits are frequently reduced to harsh accusations, but Jackson offered a far more nuanced take.
She recounted how working with a therapist, a clinical psychologist, and a support group helped reframe her situation. Jackson explained that they were “asking me the right questions of, ‘Why would you stay?’ And my answers weren’t good enough. My answers weren’t good enough”.
That pivotal moment brought her to a realization that cuts to the core of adult relationships: “Just because I’ve realized just because someone is a good person doesn’t mean they’re my person, and I have to be happy, and I realize that my non-negotiables are allowed to be non-negotiables”.
She added firmly, “If these big major needs are not being met, it doesn’t matter that you’re a good person and you’re not going to cheat on me. That’s not a reason to stay”.
Unpacking the Untold Story of the First Ring
Beyond her split from Justin Long, Jackson also shed light on a much earlier, previously undisclosed engagement that unfolded during a far more chaotic chapter of her life.
This initial proposal took place while she and her then-partner were both actively struggling with substance abuse. Jackson addressed the situation candidly, telling Cooper, “This is also my second engagement that I called off. The first one, I don’t know if you could count the first one, [but it] was real to me, even though we were strung out on drugs and the ring was one that he bought with my money without me knowing”.
Despite the obvious instability and financial deception surrounding that moment, she acknowledged the raw emotional truth of how she felt at the time, adding, “It was still, like, the love was so real for me in that first one”.
Choosing not to publicly identify that former partner, Jackson allowed the focus to remain on the personal evolution that followed.
Looking back on both chapters of her romantic past, she acknowledged that her personal standards had historically been far too permissive, allowing her to overlook red flags and compromise on essential needs.
Reflecting on how her outlook has changed after five years of sobriety from alcohol and heroin, Jackson admitted that her self-worth has undergone a massive shift.
“The bar can be raised a little because it was very low,” she noted honestly. As for whether she sees another engagement somewhere down the road, Jackson shared a grounded, measured outlook on the future: “I don’t know… It’s a day at a time kind of thing for me”.
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