Addressing the long-standing speculations in her documentary 'JANET', the 'Escapade' songstress says that if she had a baby with her ex, she 'could never keep a child away' from the father.
- Jan 27, 2022
AceShowbiz - Janet Jackson has weighed in on rumors that she had a secret baby with her ex-husband James DeBarge in the 1980s. In her documentary "JANET", the "Miss You Much" songstress shuts down the long-standing speculations.
In the upcoming A&E documentary, the "When I Think of You" singer dispels various claims, including that the alleged baby was raised by her sister Rebbie Jackson or her brother Jackie Jackson. "Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret," she says. "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 also recalls how the chatter first started to spread. The 55-year-old star believes that it all began after she starred in season four of NBC's "Fame" in 1984. At the time, the "Escapade" songstress played Cleo Hewitt.
"A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant 'cause I had gained weight and I had started taking birth control pills," she remembers in the four-hour documentary, which will premiere on January 28 in the U.S. and January 31 in the U.K. "And back then, you could pick up weight taking them, and that's what happened to me, so that rumor started going around."
Debbie Allen, who led the 80's TV series as Lydia Grant, recounts being taken aback by the speculations as well. "These were rumors that were just flying around, honey, like hash in a diner," the 72-year-old actress tells the viewers. "Where was the baby? Nobody saw a baby. I mean, she was there with us all day, every day. Where was the baby?"
The gossip then got out of hand as people dragged the Jacksons into it. "First they were saying my niece [Brandi Jackson] was my daughter and that I gave her to [my brother] Jackie to raise," Janet adds. "And then because my brother [Randy Jackson]'s daughter looks so much like me, they started saying it was [Stevanna Jackson]."
To make matters worse, James himself has claimed over the years that he and his ex-wife had a child. "I was under the impression that there was no baby, and I wanted to believe it's not true. But it is," he told his daughter Kristinia DeBarge in a November 2016 episode of "Growing Up Hip Hop".
