Janet Jackson is opening up about how she dealt with the public fallout of her late brother Michael Jackson amid the pop icon’s 2005 trial on allegations of child molestation.
The 55-year-old singer and performer, who also carried success as an actress, spoke out in the upcoming two-part A&E and Lifetime documentary “Janet.”
“Yeah … guilty by association,” Janet admits to producers, who ask her in an extended trailer for the anticipated program if the allegations against the “Thriller” crooner “affected her career-wise.”
Michael Jackson was eventually acquitted on four counts of molesting a minor. He had always denied the allegations.
Janet Jackson is opening up about how she dealt with the public fallout of her late brother, Michael Jackson, amid the pop icon’s 2005 trial on allegations of child molestation. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire)
Separately, in 1993, Jackson was also accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy at the singer’s famed Neverland Ranch. The case never made it to trial.
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Janet said in a 2016 documentary titled “Unmasked” that the boy’s father, who accepted a settlement of $15 million, was “after money.”
“Now if this really went on, do you think a father would accept money? Do you think that would make everything OK? It doesn’t make any sense. If that was my son, I don’t care if he gave me a billion dollars, I want to see you either behind bars or dead for doing that to my son,” she said.
A new documentary will see Janet Jackson open up about the infamous 2004 Super Bowl performance with Justin Timberlake. (Associated Press, File)
She added: “It’s crazy — the guy was after money — that is all he wanted.”
In 2019, some of the allegations made against Jackson came to light in the documentary “Leaving Neverland.” Per E! News, the Jacksons have denied the allegations.
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In April 2021, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young granted the Jackson estate’s request to dismiss the suit brought in 2013 by Wade Robson, who was one of the accusers in the documentary.
The judge said two Jackson entertainment corporations targeted by the lawsuit had no legal duty to protect Robson from Jackson.
‘Janet’ is set to premiere on Jan. 28. (Getty)
“There is no evidence supporting plaintiff’s contention that defendants exercised control over Jackson,” the judge wrote. “The evidence further demonstrates that defendants had no legal ability to control Jackson, because Jackson had complete and total ownership of the corporate defendants.”
The dismissal came after the judge dismissed a similar lawsuit in October by James Safechuck. Both men made their allegations previously, but they were highlighted and given renewed attention in the documentary, which premiered at Sundance before gaining wide appeal on HBO.
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The “Janet” documentary will also see her speak to the impact of the infamous 2004 Super Bowl performance with Justin Timberlake, in which he exposed her breast to the world.
After the controversy, Janet released multiple apologetic statements about the scandal.
“The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. … MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended, including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL,” she initially said.
Timberlake, who walked away from the controversy seemingly unscathed, publicly apologized to Janet last year.
“Janet” is set to premiere on A&E and Lifetime on Jan. 28.
Julius is an LA Entertainment Reporter for Fox News.
