Jackson recalls her unhappy marriage to James DeBarge and their struggles over his drug use. Janet, Jackson's sister, is the one who raised their secret love child.

Janet Jacket offers fans an exclusive glimpse into Janet's love life in the first two hours her A&E "Janet” docuseries. It airs Friday night at 9 p.m.

The episodes cover the early years of the legend performer's career from her days as a child star and teen actress up to her first major tour after the 1989 release of "Rhythm Nation". The show also covers her personal life. It includes her first marriage, divorce, and her journey to her second marriage.

Janet finally addressed persistent rumors that she and James DeBarge had a secret lover child in the 1980s. This was a revelation that was teased ahead of the film's premiere. She allegedly had Rebbie raise the kid to continue the lie. Jackson officially dismissed the gossip as BS, so anyone expecting a shocking revelation is disappointed.

Jackson said, "Back in day they were saying that I had a baby and I kept it secret." Debbie Allen, a "Fame" co-star, recalled Janet visiting them on set every day around the time she would have been pregnant. She asked, "Where is the baby?"

Rebbie said, "They were saying that I was raising her child." It was unbelievable to me. "I don't know where this ridiculous idea came."

Janet said, "They first thought my niece Brandi was mine and I gave her to my brother Jackie to raise. Then because Randy's daughter looks like me, they started calling it Stevanna." Many of my children thought I was pregnant when I was doing "Fame". I gained weight while I was on the show and started taking birth control pills. You could gain weight by taking birth control pills back then and that is what happened to me.

She said, "So that rumor began going around," before getting emotional and saying she "couldn't keep a child away James" if she had one. "How can I keep a child away from their father?" She asked, "How could I keep a child from their father?" It's wrong."

James has spoken many times about their alleged lover child over the years. Tiffany Whyte, a woman claiming to be the child, even appeared on Growing Up Hip Hop.

Janet spoke out about James' relationship and said that they used to talk a lot on the phone as children because one of their brothers had a thing with her sister La Toya. Janet described him as a "sweet" man and a "nice guy" when they started dating at 16 years old.

She was 18 when she got married.

She said, "I wanted to be independent and I believed that marriage was the only way to do so." James and I were ready to marry. Toya, my sister, said that if you really want to do this, you should. So, I did it in secret.

Rebbie claims that she did not meet James until after they said "I do".

"Did Janet tell me about that part?" She laughed, recalling how her parents were shocked to learn that she had married. Tito said, "It didn’t bother me at any time until I started learning something that wasn’t cool," before Janet explained that she soon saw red flags.

"I can remember going to Michigan and meeting his uncle. He was a pastor, and he got married to me. She recalled that she even wore a ring on her finger, but it was on the wrong finger. He said that he would be back when we returned to the hotel after we were married. He never returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was just 18 years old, and I was alone in the hotel room. It's possible that I have this desire to help others, which I don't really know. Subconsciously, I find people who use drugs attractive when it comes to relationships.

Her professional life was also affected by her marriage. Janet said that she remembers being isolated while working on "Fame", and Debbie Allen said that Janet confessed that "there were many times I was late to work."

"I didn’t care because James was more important than mine. James would sometimes wait two-and-a half hours to pick me up. She claimed that she eventually found out that he was addicted to drugs. "I spent many nights searching the streets for him. 3:00 am in the morning, 4:00 am in the morning. I can recall times when I found the pills and would try to flush them down the drain. We would then be fighting over them on the floor. This is not the way to live.

Janet acknowledged that she saw great things in him, but she also said that she wanted that to be the priority over his ugliness. However, she did admit that he needed help.

He didn't need my help. "I remember finally deciding to get divorced -- or an annulment. It lasted only one year. One day, he asked me to drive him home to his brother's house. That's when I told her," she said. He was so mad and frustrated that he got out of his car and I locked the doors. I can still remember the moment I drove back to my parents' house. I was done.

She called herself "just incredibily innocent" at the moment and added that it was "hurtful to someone to see that and try to take advantage of them and knowing you don’t know better and lying to you." She began to cry and told her producer that she didn't want any more discussion about it. It doesn't really matter how hard you work, it's still very painful.

We could not locate a representative for DeBarge.

Friday and Saturday nights, the four-hour "Janet” event will air on Lifetime and A&E.

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Title: Janet Jackson Finally Addresses Secret Love Child Rumors In New Docuseries
Sourced From: toofab.com/2022/01/26/janet-jackson-james-debarge-love-child/
Published Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2022 21:35:42 +0000

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