Janet Jackson debunks decades-old rumour
Janet Jackson has debunked rumours that she had a secret child with James DeBarge in the 1980s in a preview clip for her upcoming documentary, Janet.
The rumour that the 55-year-old singer, who has a 4-year-old son Eissa with ex-husband Wissam Al Amana, had a secret child in the 1980s has followed her for years, and the performer and member of the legendary Jackson family has finally put it to bed.
Allegedly, Jackson had a child with then-husband James DeBarge, but gave it to her brother Jackie to raise. In addition, there were rumours that her nieces Brandy and Stevanna were actually her daughters because they look like her.
In a clip from the documentary, Janet said, "Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret. 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."
Jackson believes the rumours stemmed from her weight gain as a result of taking birth control pills while filming the TV show Fame, saying, "A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant, 'cause I had gained weight, and I had started taking birth control pills. And back then, you could pick up weight taking them, and that's what happened to me. So that rumour started going around."
Jackson was just 18 when she married DeBarge in 1984, and though he was a “sweet guy”, she blamed his drug use for their marriage being annulled after just one year. SHe said of their wedding night, “When we got married and came back to the hotel he said, 'OK, I'll be right back. And I'm sitting in the hotel room in Grand Rapids, Michigan by myself, just 18, and for three hours, he never came back.
“I don't know, maybe it's this person in me that wants to help people subconsciously. When it comes to relationships, somehow I'm attracted to people that use drugs."
Jackson described spending many nights searching the streets for DeBarge and trying to help by flushing his pills, but ultimately, she couldn’t give him the help he needed. In the documentary, she opens up, saying, "We would be rolling on the floor fighting for them. And that's not a life for anyone. I sit and I say, 'Were you stupid, were you dumb?' But it wasn't that. I cared so much for him, and I saw the good in him as well and I just wanted that to take precedence as opposed to this ugliness. 'Cause I knew that he needed help. But I wasn't the help that he needed.
"I was just incredibly innocent. That's the thing, is the innocence. And it's just hurtful for someone to see that and just try to take advantage of it ... It's still painful."
Image: Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic