Janet Jackson (2022)

[MsTree]

Did anyone watch the 4-part (2 consecutive nights) documentary about Janet Jackson?

(Mods: I did a search for this topic but got zero results, so hope this is okay)

[topanga]

Yes, I was glued to my tv both nights. I have thoughts:

Way too many commercials, as someone pointed out in another thread. Other than that, I really enjoyed this. Janet was more transparent than I've ever seen her, and I learned a lot about her life and her career. She's had too much plastic surgery, but she doesn't look crazy. 

I know she's forgiven Justin Timberlake and says we all should move on, but I can't. Not yet, anyway. He failed to defend her even though he was the one who ripped off her shirt and bra at the Super Bowl. The media made it sound like she whipped out her own breast. Yet his career continued to flourish, while hers suffered. 

She does seem happy with her son Eissa, who just turned 5. She was open about needing fertility treatments, though she didn't confirm whether she used IVF. I'm going to assume she did. Which is FINE, of course. And she didn't talk about her marriage to Wissam Al Mana. Maybe they're not formally divorced even though they've been separated since 2017. I read that he was verbally abusive and controlling. 

I also heard that she and Jermaine are back together and maybe engaged? Or that could be just the rumor mill. Neither one addressed their current relationship in the movie. And she didn't talk about her alleged relationship with Bobby Brown. She and Rebbie pretty much (??) denied the secret baby rumor, although I kept listening for the word "no" and never heard it explicitly stated by either one of them. Maybe I'm just being nit-picky. 

And her Black Diamond tour and album are on hold--because of COVID, maybe? And while I don't find Janet the greatest actress in the world, I'm always happy to see her in a movie. And I love how much her costars, especially her male costars, would turn into total fanboys on movie sets. Except for Tupac Shakur. He was pretty smooth. 

Lastly, whenever I watch documentaries with family and friends who participate in interviews, it always makes me wonder about the people who weren't interviewed: Rene, LaToya, Jermaine, Eddie Murphy, Todd Bridges, or any of the cast from Good Times (Norman Lear was the sole representative). And was her former friend Tish interviewed? I remember hearing from the other lady (I forget her name). Were the missing people asked? Did they decline? 

[sadie]

Watched part 1, really enjoyed. She looks great and seems like a very sweet soul. I’m wondering if they are going to address the Michael stuff head on but she seems to dance around her fathers abuse which I think years ago she came out and literally accused him of but they seemed to wash over it here. I enjoy documentaries so can’t wait for part 2, she has always been one of my favorite music artists. 

[Spartan Girl]

It was good. Very interesting. I hate that she got dragged through the coals over the Super Bowl incident. Much as we all side-eye Justin Timberlake for it, let’s not forget the true villain of the story was Les Moonves.

3 hours ago, sadie said:

I’m wondering if they are going to address the Michael stuff head on but she seems to dance around her fathers abuse which I think years ago she came out and literally accused him of but they seemed to wash over it here

Oh yeah, it was addressed, but she’s sticking to her stance that Michael was innocent. I didn’t expect anything different: either she didn’t know or she doesn’t want to know. It was really hard not to get creeped out by the footage of Michael’s bedroom and all the Pinocchio and Peter Pan memorabilia.

She’s clearly still torn up over his death, which is understandable.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I watched this last night as well. It was really good. One of the things I found to be a head scratcher was how Janet’s exes were tagged as “boyfriend”, “husband”, and “fiancé” instead of former husband (since she got annulment from James), divorced from Rene, and wasn’t with Jermaine any longer.

Also interesting that her stint on Diff’rent Strokes” wasn’t mentioned. Just Good Times and Fame.

But she was the most cutest adorable baby/toddler/child!

And I just wanted to reach through my screen and bitchslap Geraldo when they shows that clip of him and Michael about what happened at the Super Bowl. And I TOTALLY also blame Justin Timberlake. Janet told him not to say anything, but he saw how she was getting dragged and blamed for it. He should have manned up and apologized and taken the heat/hit for what he did. She’s EONS more talented that than twitty TWAT.

And Cova Cola can just fuck off. Janet wasn’t accused of being a pedophile.

But both Janet and Michael looked like twins. While Michael was unrecognizable after all those surgeries, I could tell most of the kids look like Katherine. Rebbie looks like Joe.

Not surprised that Janet and the rest of the brothers and sisters (actually not sure about LaToya) believe Michael was innocent. This was dedicated to both Joe and Michael.

I guess I’m a hypocrite, because I enjoyed all those clips with Duck Clark and seeing Janet perform with her brothers as children.

Edited January 31, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Spartan Girl]

Poor Katherine Jackson looked so frail and broken. Seems kind of miraculous that she outlived Joe. Speaking of whom, I just rolled my eyes at all the praise Janet heaped on him. Yeah he’s her dad but just because he helped his kids get famous doesn’t mean he was a good dad.

Was surprised to see Reebie! She’s the one Jackson that escaped fame/infamy unscathed, marriage wise. Good for her.

[Crashcourse]

13 hours ago, topanga said:

And she didn't talk about her alleged relationship with Bobby Brown. She and Rebbie pretty much (??) denied the secret baby rumor, although I kept listening for the word "no" and never heard it explicitly stated by either one of them. Maybe I'm just being nit-picky. 

I did find it rather strange that Janet, in particular, didn't just simply say "no."  

[Enero]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Poor Katherine Jackson looked so frail and broken. Seems kind of miraculous that she outlived Joe.

Was surprised to see Reebie! She’s the one Jackson that escaped fame/infamy unscathed, marriage wise. Good for her.

I thought Katherine looked amazing being that she was likely in her mid/late 80s when this was filmed and considering all she’s been through. She looked well put together. Rebbie looked absolutely beautiful. She was probably in her mid 60s when this was filmed. Probably could’ve passed for 6-7 years younger. 

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Speaking of whom, I just rolled my eyes at all the praise Janet heaped on him. Yeah he’s her dad but just because he helped his kids get famous doesn’t mean he was a good dad.

Well none of them said he was a good dad, only that his method was warranted because it resulted in their success. Her and Tito were very careful not to say he was an abusive asshole. And the fact that the documentary lifted Joe’s methods up so much may be why the other siblings didn’t participate. Though Janet explicitly said Joe wasn’t a tyrant, I think it was obvious that he was based on interviews her siblings have done years earlier about him. Even in this interview, some of the stuff mentioned about how Joe wouldn’t let them have play time and how Janet had no choice in what her life would be when she was a young adult gave a glimpse into what he could be like. 
 

9 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I watched this last night as well. It was really good. One of the thinks I found to be a head scratcher was how Janet’s exes were tagged as “boyfriend”, “husband”, and “fiancé” instead of former husband (since she got annulment from James), divorced from Rene, and wasn’t with Jermaine any longer.

But we can all agree, I think, that Janet has a type. All of her ex-husbands were dark haired, slicked haired, very fair pretty boys. Save for Jermaine Dupri (JD) but she didn’t marry him. Speaking of Rene it sounded like there might’ve been some issues with him from Janet’s team, but the folks interviewed didn’t elaborate. One did manage to mention that he was great but he had a lot of power being Janet’s husband so you couldn’t go against him. I wonder what that was all about?

15 hours ago, topanga said:

Way too many commercials, as someone pointed out in another thread. Other than that, I really enjoyed this. Janet was more transparent than I've ever seen her, and I learned a lot about her life and her career. She's had too much plastic surgery, but she doesn't look crazy. 

I watched this On Demand so thankfully could fast forward through all the commercials. Regarding the plastic surgery I think she overdid her nose which at certain angles makes her face look strange, but most of the time she looked good.

With regards to nipple gate, it was absolutely overblown. From what I remember about it, it happened so fast and the lights went dark, that most people didn’t see her exposure in real time. They had to rewind their TIVO to see what happened. It was ridiculous. Another example of how society crucifies women, but allows the men to get off Scott free without any scorn. Justin Timberlake walked away from that whole mess unscathed which was infuriating.

It was cool seeing the old footage of Paula Abdul choreographing the Control video. I’d forgotten that Paula started off working with some of the top names in the industry before launching her own music career.

The reason for her and JD breaking was understandable due to work, but cheating, I’m like JD, you were too dam old for that type of mess. SMH.

What I thought was obvious from this documentary was that the Jackson siblings grew apart as they gained success. They didn’t seem close at all. Tito mentioned he “heard” about Janet’s pregnancy not that she told him herself. I think the same wording was used when Rebbie mentioned learning about her marriages.  The lack of closeness amongst the family members was also obvious when Michael died and some of his siblings were interviewed. The way they spoke about him it was clear they’d not been in his orbit for years. 

Lastly, Jimmy Jam has lost a LOT of weight. I hope he’s okay. I love him and Terry Lewis. They always give great interviews and seem so down to earth. 

Overall, good documentary. Though some stuff was skipped over, like why things ended with Rene, the drama with her mom going missing and the fight with Paris (Micheal’s daughter) etc.,  this was the most transparent she’s ever been. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Enero

[Spartan Girl]

14 hours ago, Enero said:

I thought Katherine looked amazing being that she was likely in her mid/late 80s when this was filmed and considering all she’s been through. She looked well put together

I was referring to the part where Janet was asking her about Michael and she clearly was too emotional to talk about it.

Wow, the stuff about Michael being awful to Janet about her weight...I mean, yeah, I get what Janet was saying, all brothers are nasty in their own way (you should hear all the stuff my brother has ever called me), but I still got mad on her behalf.

And yeah, it would have gone a long way if Justin had manned up and defended her over the Super Bowl shit. It shouldn't have mattered whether Janet said he didn't have to, anyone with an ounce of integrity still would have stood up for her, even if it didn't change how the public was treating her.

Say what you want about Tyler Perry's movies, but it's great that he cast her in for film roles when it looked like her film career was dead over the fallout. 

[GaT]

21 hours ago, Enero said:

I watched this On Demand so thankfully could fast forward through all the commercials.

Sorry, off topic, but when I watch things on OnDemand I get a message that says FF is disabled & then I have no way to see it without watching the commercials too. Is your OnDemand through Xfinity?

[Enero]

3 minutes ago, GaT said:

Sorry, off topic, but when I watch things on OnDemand I get a message that says FF is disabled & then I have no way to see it without watching the commercials too. Is your OnDemand through Xfinity?

Yes. It’s through Xfinity. I also get the FF disabled message with some shows while others I’m allowed to FF. I’m not sure what makes the difference because this has happened (or not) with a variety of networks and shows.

[AngieBee1]

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She and Rebbie pretty much (??) denied the secret baby rumor, although I kept listening for the word "no" and never heard it explicitly stated by either one of them. Maybe I'm just being nit-picky. 

Other people felt that, too. But I think even a firm "no" would still not stop people from believing that she has a basement baby. As Debbie Allen pointed out Janet was filming "Fame" when those rumours hit. If she was pregnant multiple people from that cast/crew would have spilled the beans by now.
 

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And was her former friend Tish interviewed? I remember hearing from the other lady (I forget her name). Were the missing people asked? Did they decline?

I don't remember this rumour but someone pointed out that when Rene and Janet split there was talk that he cheated on her with Tish. If true, I can see why Janet didn't put her up as one of the names to contact (I assume Janet had full approval on who was to be contacted).

Also, we don't know if there were interviews that didn't make the cut. Questlove tweeted that they cut out all the stuff he said about Les Moonves re: the the Super Bowl incident.

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but she seems to dance around her fathers abuse which I think years ago she came out and literally accused him of but they seemed to wash over it here.

She wrote that he whupped her once, I believe, as she was coming out of the shower. This omission made some people feel as if she was protecting Joe, but maybe she has just transcended it. She knows that he abused her siblings physically (I don't know where she lands on LaToya's accusation of s exual abuse at the hands of Joe), I think she just wanted this documentary to provide a better picture of who she is, on her terms. Not open wounds and bleed all over the place so that people can feed on her past hurts. It's a softball documentary, but I respect her wanting to keep things close to the vest.
 

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One of the things I found to be a head scratcher was how Janet’s exes were tagged as “boyfriend”, “husband”, and “fiancé” instead of former husband (since she got annulment from James), divorced from Rene, and wasn’t with Jermaine any longer.

My head scratcher moment was that the doc acted as if her marriage to Rene was wildly known. Granted, this was so long ago and my recollection of this may be dodgy, but I thought the public didn't know Janet and Rene were married until the divorce was announced, or that maybe that they were married longer than what was originally thought. I knew someone back in the day who worked in entertainment and she told me they were married long before it was widely known. I didn't believe her at the time because I didn't think Janet would have two secret weddings.
 

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Speaking of Rene it sounded like there might’ve been some issues with him from Janet’s team, but the folks interviewed didn’t elaborate. One did manage to mention that he was great but he had a lot of power being Janet’s husband so you couldn’t go against him. I wonder what that was all about?

It makes sense. It's like being a stage parent, but a stage spouse. He used Janet power as an extension of himself so people likely had to tread lightly because if you push back against him, he could deny access to Janet or get her to fire them. Even in the meeting with Coca-Cola, thanking them. Dude, you're her partner, not her manager or agent or lawyer. That's why when he fought against their pre-nup he said he was her creative partner. He just gave his opinions and took charge solely because he wanted to stand on her shoulders to make himself look tall.

[GaT]

20 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

She wrote that he whupped her once, I believe, as she was coming out of the shower. This omission made some people feel as if she was protecting Joe, but maybe she has just transcended it. She knows that he abused her siblings physically (I don't know where she lands on LaToya's accusation of s exual abuse at the hands of Joe),

If she said that Joe had done anything to her as she was coming out of the shower, I think that pretty much confirms what LaToya said.

[MsTree]

On 1/31/2022 at 4:26 PM, AngieBee1 said:

we don't know if there were interviews that didn't make the cut. Questlove tweeted that they cut out all the stuff he said about Les Moonves re: the the Super Bowl incident.

Does anyone know anything about what Les might have said?  

[Straycat80]

I watched this doc. always been a fan of Janet’s and the Jackson 5. 
I thought this was well done but a couple things I wish had been covered : 

She never said if the Super Bowl Nipplegate had been planned and there was a costume mishap ( which at that time had been mentioned). Or if it had not been a planned choreographed move or not. 
There was always a rumor that she had a baby in her first marriage, she could have said something to put that rumor to rest.

She went into detail about both marriages and her relationship with Jermaine Dupri but said nothing at all about her third marriage. Why? I’m assuming because when they filmed this she was going through a divorce. Maybe had a gag order? 

[AngieBee1]

 

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Does anyone know anything about what Les might have said?  

According to sources during an investigation on Les Moonves, he made it a mission to blacklist Janet from all CBS owned platforms because he believed she and Justin purposely planned the stunt and she wasn't sufficiently contrite about it. He even wanted to fire the people who signed Janet to a book deal because Simon & Schuster is owned by CBS.

 

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She never said if the Super Bowl Nipplegate had been planned and there was a costume mishap ( which at that time had been mentioned). Or if it had not been a planned choreographed move or not. 

This is what I'm confused about. I believe it was a choreographed move but that maybe JT pulled too much of the garment away. Like maybe there was a flesh covered piece underneath that got ripped. I don't see how he could tear away that fabric so easily.

Wayne Scot Lukas who is in the documentary told Page Six that JT wanted to do something scandalous; something bigger than Britney Spears and Madonna's kiss. He also says it wasn't a wardrobe malfunction - that it functioned exactly how it was supposed to. I take that to mean it meant to be a tearaway but when everyone freaked out, they wanted to walk it back and say it was an accident.
 

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but said nothing at all about her third marriage. Why? I’m assuming because when they filmed this she was going through a divorce. Maybe had a gag order? 

Yeah, I think Wissam doesn't want her speaking about her or maybe she wants to keep the peace. I remember the time when shecalled the police on him because she said she was concerned about her son. And the rumour that their custody battle was contentious and he threatened to keep her from taking their son out of London.

[CountryGirl]

To this day, I think all of the outcry over a boob was ridiculous. Although I thought then and now that JT is trash.

[Enero]

On 2/2/2022 at 12:57 PM, AngieBee1 said:

This is what I'm confused about. I believe it was a choreographed move but that maybe JT pulled too much of the garment away. Like maybe there was a flesh covered piece underneath that got ripped. I don't see how he could tear away that fabric so easily.

Wayne Scot Lukas who is in the documentary told Page Six that JT wanted to do something scandalous; something bigger than Britney Spears and Madonna's kiss. He also says it wasn't a wardrobe malfunction - that it functioned exactly how it was supposed to. I take that to mean it meant to be a tearaway but when everyone freaked out, they wanted to walk it back and say it was an accident.
 

Yeah. I never thought nipple gate was an accident. I always thought it was planned for him to pull away the covering over her breast but there would be a lace or flesh colored cloth underneath. After all the songs does end with “I’m going to have you naked by the end of this song.” However, I think Justin was too aggressive when pulling the fabric away. Whether that was truly a mistake  or on purpose we’ll never know. I don’t think Janet would’ve ever agreed to her breast being exposed though, even if it was only for a millisecond. 

[Scarlett45]

On 1/30/2022 at 5:09 AM, topanga said:

She does seem happy with her son Eissa, who just turned 5. She was open about needing fertility treatments, though she didn't confirm whether she used IVF. I'm going to assume she did. Which is FINE, of course.

I always assumed a younger family member donated an egg for Janet. (I don’t doubt she compensated them well)

[Scarlett45]

On 1/30/2022 at 8:24 PM, Enero said:

Well none of them said he was a good dad, only that his method was warranted because it resulted in their success. Her and Tito were very careful not to say he was an abusive asshole. And the fact that the documentary lifted Joe’s methods up so much may be why the other siblings didn’t participate. Though Janet explicitly said Joe wasn’t a tyrant, I think it was obvious that he was based on interviews her siblings have done years earlier about him. Even in this interview, some of the stuff mentioned about how Joe wouldn’t let them have play time and how Janet had no choice in what her life would be when she was a young adult gave a glimpse into what he could be like. 

I also think Janet got the least of Joe’s rages because by the time she got up some size the Jackson 5 was famous and they were making money. In any family, the baby of 9 is going to have a different childhood than the first 1-2 kids. 
 

At this point I don’t know what people expect Janet to say? She doesn’t have to give us her inner most thoughts and feelings- Joe is dead and she’s a middle aged woman. People/the public being how they are, if she got to emotional they would tell her to get over it because she’s rich and famous and wouldn’t be that without Joe so shut up. (I don’t agree with that stance for the record.)

[RealHousewife]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:37 AM, sadie said:

Watched part 1, really enjoyed. She looks great and seems like a very sweet soul. 

She really does. I've always thought the dichotomy between Janet's on stage persona compared to her off stage persona was very cool. On stage, she's confident, bold, provocative, sexy. Off stage, she's so gentle, soft-spoken, sweet, seems almost shy. Of course she's all those things, but if you just saw her perform, you might expect more of a Madonna type of personality, a little more sassy and in your face. 

I missed the documentary unfortunately, but I'll see if I can catch its somewhere. I've always been a huge fan of Janet as a performer and a person. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just now, RealHousewife said:

She really does. I've always thought the dichotomy between Janet's on stage persona compared to her off stage persona was very cool. On stage, she's confident, bold, provocative, sexy. Off stage, she's so gentle, soft-spoken, sweet, seems almost shy. Of course she's all those things, but if you just saw her perform, you might expect more of a Madonna type of personality, a little more sassy and in your face. 

I missed the documentary unfortunately, but I'll see if I can catch its somewhere. I've always been a huge fan of Janet as a performer and a person. 

You can watch it on demand.

[RealHousewife]

Just now, GHScorpiosRule said:

You can watch it on demand.

Awesome, thank you!