Janet Jackson Addresses "Secret 80's Love Child" and Her Brother, Michael's, Fat Shaming in New Doc!
The moment almost all Janet Jackson fans have been waiting for is upon us! Her "up close and personal" documentary is set to premiere on Lifetime this Friday and with it, a whole lot of rumors will be put to bed.
In the documentary Jackson, 55, addresses the rumor that she had a secret love child with her first husband, James DeBarge, saying "Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret," Jackson said. "I could never keep a child away from James. How could I keep a child from their father? I could never do that, that's not right."
This is a little to the left of what DeBarge's own mother claims in her 2007 book "Other Side of the Pain". I had the pleasure of reviewing this book and interviewing Etterlene "Mama" DeBarge back then and she held to her claim that Jackson "left fat and returned thin". Jackson says "A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant, 'cause I had gained weight, and I had started taking birth control pills," she said. "And back then, you could pick up weight taking them, and that's what happened to me. So that rumor started going around."
Whether or not she'd had a baby, no one could quite determine. In light of the documentary, we can see that Jackson wasn't pregnant but, battling with weight gain. Something she says her brother, icon Michael Jackson, teased her about incessantly.
“There were times when Mike used to tease me and call me names: pig, horse, slaughter hog, cow,” Janet shared. “He would laugh about it and I’d laugh too, but then there was somewhere down inside that it would hurt.”
Jackson admitted to being an "emotional eater" and that the stress of life would drive her to food. Something, it seems, she's gotten a good handle on in life. At this place in her 50 year career, Jackson is happily single and the mother of an adorable little boy named Eissa, 5, that she shares with her ex-husband Wissam Al Mana.
For Janet Jackson lovers around the globe, the night were we all get to find out the truth about everything that we've speculated begins this Friday. "Janet", a two-night documentary event, will premiere Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime and A&E.
Will you be watching?
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