Janet Jackson Denies Rumors That She Was Pregnant And Had A Secret Baby In The '80s
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In her new Lifetime and A&E documentary, Janet Jackson denied rumors that she secretly had a daughter with her then-husband James DeBarge in the 1980s.
In the documentary, the “Rhythm Nation” singer shares that she first started hearing the rumors in 1984 when she was filming Fame.
Janet says that around that time, she started taking birth control. That made her gain weight—and sparked the rumors.
Weird rumors are part of the territory when you’re a celebrity, but Janet Jackson is finally speaking out about one that’s plagued her for decades.
In her new Lifetime and A&E documentary, Janet Jackson, the 55-year-old denied rumors that she secretly had a baby with her then-husband James DeBarge in the 1980s. According to the rumor, Janet that she kept the baby a secret even from her husband.
In the documentary, the “Rhythm Nation” singer shares that she first started hearing the rumors in 1984 when she was filming Fame.
“A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant ’cause I had gained weight and I had started taking birth control pills,” she said, per People. “And back then, you could pick up weight taking them, and that’s what happened to me, so that rumor started going around.”
Janet married James that same year—when she was 18. Janet said she’s heard a lot of branch-off rumors around the original one, including that her niece Brandy is actually her daughter, that she gave her alleged child to her brother Jackie to raise, and that her brother Randy’s daughter Stevanna is actually her daughter because they look alike.
Debbie Allen, who was also on Fame with Janet, weighed in on the rumors: “These were rumors that were just flying around, honey, like hash in a diner,” she said. “Where was the baby? Nobody saw a baby. I mean, she was there with us all day, every day. Where was the baby?”
James said in a previous interview with We TV’s Growing Up Hip Hop that he believed the rumors were true.
"I'm tired of the secrecy. I'm tired of the truth not coming forward, and people being a coward when it comes to it," he told his daughter in the interview, per ET. "And I thought it was wise for me to speak out now because it needs to be addressed. To be honest with you, I didn't know. I was under the impression that there was no baby, and I wanted to believe it's not true. But it is." (James didn’t elaborate any more on why he thinks there was a baby.)
But Janet denied this ever happened. “Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret,” Janet 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.”
Janet and James annulled their marriage after a year, and Janet says his drug habit was to blame.
"When we got married and came back to the hotel he said, 'OK, I'll be right back,'" she said. "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."
Janet said that she and James “would be rolling on the floor fighting” for his drugs. “That’s not a life for anyone," she continued. "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.”
Janet got remarried in 1991 to dancer René Elizondo Jr. (they divorced in 2000) and again to entrepreneur Wissam Al Mana in 2012. The couple had a son, Eissa, in 2017, and split that year.
JANET JACKSON premieres at 8 p.m. Friday on Lifetime and A&E.
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