I will always want to give Janet Jackson the benefit of the doubt. Her musical impact is major and majorly underrated. I still believe Rhythm Nation is one of the best albums of all time. Her career was undermined and almost destroyed by very powerful people. My point is that there’s every reason to give Janet the benefit of the doubt. But we can also call bullsh-t on her, because she just said some really f–ked up sh-t to the Guardian. The bulk of the Guardian’s interview/profile is about her life as a divorced mom living in London and her career. She apparently has to live in London because her son’s father Wissam Al Mana is London-based, and I would assume that those were the terms of her divorce from Wissam. Janet “crinkled her nose” when asked if she enjoys living in London. That’s backstory for what everyone’s talking about, which is that Janet is extremely misinformed on the American election. I have no idea what media she’s consuming in England, but it’s bad. Here’s the relevant portion, with everything in context:
We move on to talk about the state of the nation. Jackson brought politics directly to the pop consciousness with Rhythm Nation, which addressed racism, poverty and inequality – all issues just as urgent today as they were 35 years ago. She is a prolific social media user, and has used her profile to support Black Lives Matter, to bring awareness to police brutality. Does she feel despondent about how slow change is in coming or is she hopeful about the future?
“Well, there’s all this child trafficking crap that’s going on and sex trafficking crap, you know what I mean, that wasn’t so prevalent then?” It’s a strange about-turn, not least because of the many allegations of child sexual abuse made against Michael. But it is also the most forceful she has been since we sat down. “At least, we didn’t know about it back then. I don’t think we did, did we? Not really. I think it’s really now out in the open, because it’s like a billion-dollar business and all that crap.”
I wonder what internet rabbit holes she’s been going down, but, before I can ask, she’s moved on. “On [the Rhythm Nation album], for us, it was about making a difference in a kid’s life, a teenager’s life, from them taking this path with drugs and going down the wrong street to trying to make something of themself.”
On that record she sang about “joining voices in protest to social injustice” and “pushing toward a world rid of colour lines”. I wonder where she stands on the forthcoming election. After all, I say, America could be on the verge of voting in its first black female president, Kamala Harris.
“Well, you know what they supposedly said?” she asks me. “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
She looks at me expectantly, perhaps assuming that I have Indian heritage. “Well, she’s both,” I offer.
“Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she coughs. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
I’m floored at this point. It’s well known that Harris’s father is a Jamaican economist, a Stanford professor who split from her Indian mother when she was five. “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters,” Harris wrote in her book The Truths We Hold.
The people who are most vocal in questioning the facts of Harris’s identity tend to be hardcore QAnon-adjacent, Trump-loving conspiracy theorists. I don’t think Jackson falls into that camp, but I do wonder what the algorithms are serving her. I start again. Harris has dual heritage, I say, and, given this moment, does Jackson think America is ready for her – if we agree she’s black? Or, OK, a woman of colour?
“I don’t know,” Jackson stage whispers. “Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem.”
She doesn’t think there will be a peaceful transition of power?
“I think there might be mayhem,” she falters. “Either way it goes, but we’ll have to see.”
I chuckled at the Guardian writer basically writing “what in the QAnon bullsh-t am I hearing now??” And that’s what it is, this has all of the hallmarks of Janet falling down a particularly batsh-t QAnon rabbit hole – the trafficking comments, the eagerness to spin/amplify conspiracies around a Black woman’s race, the ambivalence when suggesting that there will be a bloody insurrection again. And since people are dumb (including Janet, apparently), let’s say it again for the record: Kamala Harris is Black and Indian. She’s both. Her father is a Black man from Jamaica. Her mother was an Indian immigrant. Janet needs to stop falling down QAnon rabbit holes.
Throughout Sunday, this story got even more bonkers when a man claiming to be Janet’s manager apologized for Janet’s comments, saying in part: “Janet Jackson would like to clarify her recent comments. She recognizes that her statements regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity were based on misinformation. Janet respects Harris’ dual heritage as both Black and Indian and apologizes for any confusion caused.” Then a few hours later, Janet’s actual manager (her brother Randy) said this guy does not represent Janet and that the apology is not real or authorized. So… even days/weeks after the interview went down, Janet apparently feels no need to backtrack or clarify. Very strange.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
Keeping your mouth shut is free. I can’t believe her team is doubling down on this stupidity. Why she thought she needed to weigh in is completely beyond me, but I took her songs off my usual playlists because I am appalled by her intentional ignorance and the harm it can cause.
The only outlets publishing the ‘white parent’ lie are those on the far right.
WTF, perhaps the journalist is right, she went into a QAnon rabbit hole.
I read her brother is MAGA. I don’t think Janet herself is clicking alt-right websites. She is probably hearing this from people around her.
He recently posted a pic of himself with RFK jr which Janet liked. I did not have JJ being a dumbass on my 2024 bingo card.
Once again, I wish there was a “like” button here because from your first sentence (true) to the part about Janet J.’s “intentional ignorance” it really resonated. The only thing I would add is that, in view of the fact that Janet’s own child is biracial, I think it’s despicable for her to act like she just doesn’t understand how that works. Also, that family seems to have a lot of hangups about race and, apparently, the circle continues.
Edited to add: Janet’s a fool.
Women of Color have been dumped on since forever, Janet. Your ignorance is not a good look.
Compartmentalizing by race serves no one, least of all Women of Color, least of all women in general (who are getting dumped on regardless of race by the MAGA’s).
Women are dying because of anti-abortion laws in this country, and yes, Women of Color are disproportionately impacted.
Maybe she needs someone on her PR team to read a newspaper every now and then. She obviously doesn’t read one on her own. Maybe read “the Guardian” yourself, since it is a great paper…
I remember this interview with her where she said she once wanted to be a lawyer. Kim K, also an aspiring lawyer, puts her to shame (I never thought I’d complement a Kardashian, but here we are…)
Please don’t compliment that Kardashian, or any of them for that matter. They are definitely problematic regarding race, women’s issues and her (in particular) so-called justice advocacy.
She’s sounds like an idiot. MVP is as “white” as her biracial Black and Arab son is. You live long enough to see those you admire act a damn fool.
But how long before J. Timberfake endorses Harris-Walz?
🤣🤣🤣 Janet sounds like she’s been living under a rock somewhere 👀 Is she okay 😍
Well, basically, she has. She’s a super-rich, super-successful recording artist & actor, and has been since she was a kid. She’s never had to do her own thinking; I bet she doesn’t even know how. Living in a privileged bubble, under a rock, it’s all the same.
I wonder how she would feel about someone making similar comments about her son and his identity without thoroughly researching his heritage.
Or like 75% of her nieces and nephews. I just shook my head but I wasn’t shocked. There is a lot of this pervasive nonsense in this age range among Black R&B/Rappers Teddy Riley, Like, Amerie etc.have all said something to this nature on social media before. It’s like School Daze was a documentary.
I guess it’s like Shady Vance doesn’t seem to understand that his sons are biracial too. MAGA must rot your brain cells.
There’s no reputable outlet in England describing VP Harris as Indian and with a white parent. What sort of stuff does she read?
Is she alright? Because it seemed like she just fell from Mars or something.
My first thought too. Is she okay? Is she on drugs and or not being treated properly for some kind of illness? Being “handled” by people who are feeding her these theories? WTF.
Agreed – as a UK resident, 95% of media I see reports her as having dual heritage. The remaining 5% actually emphasises KH’s Blackness than her Indian heritage (although she is equally both of course). I think it’s might be because the UK has not yet had a Black prime minister, although it has had female and Indian PMs, so that part is still historic in the context of the country and liberal outlets would like to remind the population of that
“I don’t know… I just don’t know…someone told me…” You’re a grown woman talking like a 4 year old. And saying dangerous things – “mayhem.” Irresponsible.
Truly, she makes herself sound like some helpless vessel of misinformation and brainwashing, when she’s a grown woman with agency and access to fantastic resources. What a strange way for her to present herself. I feel like I have to assume that she was all there for that interview, but I also found myself thinking that she almost sounded drugged or a little incapacitated, which makes zero sense for an interview. I feel kind of irresponsible for even saying that with nothing to support it, and I guess my reaction speaks to how odd and “off” some of what she said came across.
I am very disappointed and surprised that Janet Jackson said that Kamala is not really black when her biological father is ethnically black. Janet sounds like a misinformed rich person who has been hanging out with the wrong crowd. Kamala is of biracial ethnicity: Afro/Jamaican and Indian. What is so hard to understand about that. Kamala can’t change her ethnicity to suit her needs at any given point. What Janet said was shocking and appalling and sounded very ignorant to say the least. A big apology is in order.
@Lolo85If from reading the excerpts she seems to think the VP Kamala Harris has a white father rather than a black father. Janet Jackson seems to have been very isolated from real life.
Amen Lolo86LF. Janet sounds extremely ignorant! SMH
She came across as incredibly ill-informed and, I have to say it, stupid, in the quoted parts of the article. And that she doesn’t really care about it
I do not even care that Janet is uninformed. But she created chaos. Giving the right wing nutters more ammunition. Keeping your mouth shut is free.
Incredibly disappointing to see that Janet doesn’t mind spouting conspiracy theories without checking them out first
I generally have sympathy for people who had terrible parents, childhood stardom, no formal education, global fame, or just overall bizarre lives that couldn’t possibly lead to a well-adjusted adulthood, but YIKES. Shutting up is indeed free.
If you are ill informed in the 21st century, that is a choice you are making . I have zero sympathy for her ignorance or her willingness to be so. I give her zero grace.
GFY, Janet. My god, I am so sick of stupid people.
She is a mouthpeice for a corrupt, racist party that wants to burn this country to the ground. What an idiot.
What the flying f–king hell…
I don’t know if I’ll ever NOT be floored by the willfully ignorant shit people will still say with their whole chest. I’m so f–king sick of living in interesting times.
The Q magats just sucked another one down the looney conspiracy theory rabbitholes to never return. Vote blue… The magat cult is proud of their ignorance and has sucked up people no one would ever belive would fall for the rhetoric.
This was just stupid. Period.
Do better JJ. #SMDH
Having to live in London has probably made her isolated but it’s no excuse for her being ill-informed. I do suspect that Janet has fallen down some right-wing rabbit holes and has lost her way. Just looking from the outside the Jackson family has some hang ups about race but her son, nephews and niece are mixed race is she denying their heritage too?
I’m an American living in the UK and have access to all kinds of reliable news sources on my TV and online. I understand her support system may be more in the US, but living abroad is no excuse for that kind of ignorance.
There are very few places in the world that you wont get the information that most of the world receives. And she lives in England not a cave,I can’t believe anyone would even make such an argument. She lives in an oblivious whimsical bubble by choice.
Yup, as an American expat (the NLs), I can assure everyone that the internet gives you access to news in and from your home country. Regular websites like AP and CNN, basic stuff, would have kept her up to date on VP Harris’s background….
I’m really saddened by her words here.
Co-sign this… as an American who lives in Kyrgyzstan (a country most people have never even heard of) the people here know Harris and Trump and a lot of people have asked me about the upcoming election and shared their thoughts on the candidates.
Information is out there for people who chose to seek it out. Sounds to me like she isn’t informed and then listening to people around who are ill informed or intentionally spreading misinformation because she chooses not to do her own diligence on matters.
***flushes toilet***
Thank you all for giving me a place to vent. This isn’t willful ignorance she’s pro MAGA on the sly. Even if VP Harris had a white father (she doesnt)President Obama had a white parent. So whats the point.
The point was to get her supporter to not vote for Harris.
Janet is off my bucket list to see in concert. I know whe won’t hurt from my lack of ticket sale but I dont give the benefit of doubt or my money to 45 supporters.
Ex-JJ fan here. I had tickets to see her in Las Vegas ages ago, when she cancelled the whole tour (she was pregnant, but didn’t announce that was the reason why). I had to eat the cost of the flights and hotel. Here is where AI and algorithms are seriously dangerous – they figure out which articles you are spending the most time on, and feed you more and more of the same. And you end up in an echo chamber that just repeats the same thing to you over and over again. I see it starting to happen with my brothers and I keep trying to sneakily reset their computers and phones back to neutral. Technology is being built to divide us – not on purpose, but in an effort to monetize the hell out of us.
Of all the dumb ass whatthefuckery on this Monday morning. Now I’m debating do I have another coffee or do I go back to bed. She sounded like Trump when she said “that’s what I heard” I waiting for her to add “that’s what they’re saying, everyone is saying it. It’s what they’re all saying.”
She’s one Fruit Loop away from talking to us about windmills, bird cemeteries, or shark attacks.
Da fuck???
She did sound like Trump when he said about Haitians eating Springfield’s pets, “I saw it on television.” I can’t believe she’s this dumb. And yet, she is. 🥺
She is the mother of a biracial child and this is the crap she wants to say. That She heard Kamala has a white father and when told no he is black she just doubles down? She is an idiot.
And she fired the poor pr guy that tried to save her reputation 😒😒😒😒😒
Janet’s brother Randy is her manager and he’s full blown MAGA. She should have kept her mouth shut and said no comment rather than show the world what a vacuous idiot she is.
Disappointing but is it really surprising given the fact that she protected and defended Michael? And as the Guardian writer sort of implied sort of interesting that she brings up the issue of sex trafficking/abuse as if it is something new and yet fails to mention anything about the fact of Trump’s history with Epstein as well as his long history of being an abuser.
I’m surprised Janet is still working, touring, giving interviews.
I’d think she has enough $$ to retire.
Add Janet to the list of wealthy but not informed celebs.
Get your facts correct or be quiet.
I do not care about race in the POTUS candidates.
Policy! I want a detailed list of policy.
Since Trump, it’s all garbage. He has brought stupidity to a new level on a national scale.
Her ex husband and father of her son is a Qatari billionaire so yeah she’s set for life – IIRC she was never as wealthy as Micheal was (which is why she tried to wrest control of his estate from her mother and his kids).
The Jackson family were all talented but none of them had the talents of Micheal – Janet had a good start to her career with some really good albums (Rhythm Nation is a must) but she just cashes in on her name now.
Oh Janet… wtf?
Any famous person—especially one with the last name “Jackson”—should NEVER say “well, that’s what I heard” when speaking about anyone……
O Janet – what do you do with your privileged days ?
“ I haven’t seen the news for a few days?”
Sad to read this though Snoop Dog is a MAGA too.
I’m hoping Snoop isn’t MAGA. He’s friends w/ Trump from The Apprentice days. He has said that he loves and respects him. Which disgusts us, of course. But don’t know if this applies to Trump the politician. I’m really stretching here because I like Snoop.
Well Lil Jon was on the Apprentice and he was all in on VP Harris at the DNC. So Snoop has no excuse for supporting that rotten mfka, if it’s true that he does.
Rich person living in a stupid, selfish bubble. I’m so disappointed. I loved her in the 80’s. I still have her music on my playlist. I can’t feel the same about her now.
This. I was a hardcore fan when I was younger but I think the Fame Rule applies to her: your progress of maturing stops at the age you become very famous? Weird tea: When I worked in London my neighbour’s child shared a playgroup or some kind of preschool thing with her kid some years ago. We sat in a cafe there and she talked about how friendly and soft-spoken JJ was. While we are talking the waiter comes over and agrees, then says ” Yeah, really sweet, she comes in here, but she doesn’t seem to think she is black, innit? Bless her.” I was just like Whaaat. Apparently she had left a cooky impression on him. I think JJ has lived in a bubble since childhood and goes with what is dictated to her more than we think. She was raised not to have a strong opinion. She sounds as if she is scared of politics. The switch from pop superstar to walking around London in a hijab and back to mini skirts cannot have been easy. I hope she finds her middle ground. She does not realize that she was GenX’s Taylor Swift, just without a voice.
She comes from an abusive family, wrapped in a cult. We can’t expect too much critical thinking, from her.
Yes this! She was raised as a JW and that kind of cult upbringing really does a number on a persons belief system and their ability to think critically.
I’m not excusing Janet Jackson, her words or any actions, but I think this is a really important point that should be highlighted. People who emerge from trauma related to coercive control have a tendency to find safety in other high-control scenarios that — to them — appear less directly harmful to themselves.
I first noticed this, and heard others talk about it, with Leah Remini and her apparent support of 45. It seemed odd, given her work against cults in general and the one super specific one. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me that someone would not be alarmed by strongman tactics or authoritarianism, and might even be attracted to it, without a lot of self-work after leaving a traumatic and abusive environment. It feels familiar and safe, even though it’s not.
I have enjoyed Janet’s music for decades, but could never be too invested knowing what we all know about the collective Jackson family experience. I’m not shocked by any of this, but I do find it really sad, and I hope that she’s able to surprise us all by becoming more informed and reality-based.
I loved her music growing up, and I don’t doubt that her childhood and family messed with her head quite a bit, but she sounds incredibly ill informed here. Why on earth would you repeat a stupid rumor to immediate outlet, when you can very easily verify it’s not true? That she even brought it up feels like she’s pushing an agenda, and a really stupid one at that.
Janet Jackson has always seemed out of touch and airy-fairy tbh. The Jacksons seem like they grew up very insular and uneducated, so interviews like this happen.
Well the Jacksons grew up Jehovah’s Witness and they aren’t supposed to participate in politics and voting. But if Randy is MAGA then he certainly turned to the dark side if that is the direction he’s following. Janet is getting roasted on the internet for her stupid comment.
Or go to college. JW’s don’t want independent thinking or knowledge.
If anyone else had said this racist nonsense, they would not be given the benefit of the doubt on this site. Hmmm….
Nothing about anyone in the Jackson family, including Janet, has ever been typical. She was a child star in a family of child stars with a domineering stage parent to top all stage parents. She was probably never allowed to gain any common sense…. Remember how naive and gullible MJ was and always surrounded by grifters? I’m sure it’s the same with her. Remember her secret marriage and the other rumors. It does not surprise me in the least that she would get to be qanon adjacent. Plus she is almost sixty, prime MAGA age.
Given the melanin and ethnicity conversations people could (and thankfully don’t) indulge in regarding her family members: she’d wanna pipe down. Or, better yet, make a bare minimun effort at awareness.
This is exactly what I don’t understand. Between the entire family getting nose jobs to match Michael’s quest to look less like his Black father, to his offspring being questioned about their identity their entire lives, you’d hope that Janet would step back. I don’t want to hear Janet questioning anyone’s ethnic identity especially when she has her own biracial son.
Good to see someone confirming what I thought my eyes were seeing when I saw her in the news recently. Her nose looked just as plastic, and in the same shape, as Michael’s. Weird that she’s parroting what tRump said when he went to the Black Journalists Convention.
This is crazy! WTF, Janet?!?
Thanks to all the commenter’s here that I don’t have much to say, other than, this level of stupid really hurts my head.
I read this yesterday and knew CB would write about it. I was horrified. One only has to google “Kamala’s father ” to see many photos of him, photos that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s black. I cannot fathom why she’d come out with something as blindingly stupid as this and if she’s such a “prolific social media user” she’d know that Kamala IS half-black. My only hope is that her PR/comms team sets her straight and she comes out with some kind of honest mea culpa, not some phony apologia made by someone who isn’t even her manager. She sounds like a batsh*t crazy MAGAt.
And she looks very much like him.
I was a life-long fan of hers up until now. Janet Jackson is damn near sixty years old and way too old to be acting like she’s brand-new. I don’t cut her any slack because she has the resources to find out information for herself. It’s obvious she can’t think for herself. She sounds like that orange baboon and Randy is also MAGA. Her son, nieces and nephews are mostly biracial and she cannot be that stupid to think biracial children should only look or identify one way. The fact that she fixed her mouth to say “I heard” or “I was told” or “They said” tells me that she is someone who needs to be kicked to the curb with a swiftness.
I hope she’s roasted online to the point where she has to cancel her Vegas residency. And yes, I’m THAT upset with her 😡
Kicked to the curb with a swiftness! Absolutely.
I thought she had taken back her statement about her confusion over Harris’s racial identity and didn’t realize it was not actually her manager! That makes this story even worse.
It’s not as if this is the first time that we have heard about Kamala Harris being biracial Indian and Black/Jamaican. She has been VP for nearly 4 years and the moment she became VP she was announced as being the first Indian and Black/Jamaican VP in US history. So her saying “they say that her father was really a white man” isn’t her being ignorant due to the lack of information or time, but her willfully being ignorant my choice for 4 years. She has chosen to ignore the truth and remain ignorant and disrespectful to another woman of colors race. She has even decided to double down by not apologizing or correcting the narrative of what she said.
Rich and famous ppl often live in very insulated bubbles. Older folks like my dad who did not grow up with the internet and never used it most of their lives are jumping in head first in the smartphone era can have issues understanding social media algorithms, clickbait, sponsored content etc. Janet has probably never kept in touch with the real world and gets fed whatever news and info from her bubble and let’s face it, her family isn’t very tethered to reality either.
That said, I’m gobsmacked that in h this day and age ppl are still struggling with understanding biracialism?! It’s not that hard of a concept!!!
Brother Randy is a huge conspiracy theorist. He believes on the same vane as RFK,Jr. So if he’s the manager that is where the information is coming from.
Um, Harris has been VP for almost four years now. Anyone that’s even paying partial attention might know she is biracial. This is yet another example of an uninformed celebrity flapping their gums. I don’t have an eye roll emoji big enough for her comments. Geez..
Longtime Janet fan. These comments were unfortunate and one of the few major interview gaffes I’ve seen from her. To fill in a few blanks, her brother Randy is currently managing her and word is he’s Maga.
Is she really that dumb?
Big sigh. When the cassette days were over and we merged into CD players🙄, Janet was my first cd. I’ve been a fan for so long. And this sucks. I hate it here. I hate seeing people sucked up by stupidity and misinformation.
It drives me crazy when things like this get headlines. Does it actually help to educate the public? Why do we expect her to have some words of wisdom? I’m not surprised someone interviewing her asks her the question, And I think it’s important to report her answers. I just don’t know why we as a public or constantly surprised when a celebrity exposes their ignorance. It’s not as though she’s known for engaging in political discourse.
She’s a very wealthy adult who doesn’t need to be informed. Janet Jackson grew up in a very abusive household with cult-like qualities. The Jacksons aren’t unapologetically Black either-Joe mocked his kids Black features (features he shared, very messed up)…I’m unsure if I want her opinion on political matters.
I love Janet but I am side eyeing her hard on this. Janet’s own child is of mixed race and there is nothing more obnoxious than telling a mixed race kid what they are. Kamala Harris has been very clear her mom is Indian and her dad is Black. She is both. That should be the end of it. This constant questioning of people’s race or ethnicities in politics is super racist or in Janet’s case super ignorant. They did it before to President Obama and now they are doing it to Vice President Harris.
All I can say to this is “Bitch, please!” and second the comment that this was not on my 2024 batshit Bingo card either. People still coming out as MAGA after these last 9 years continue to astound me. There are two limitless things: time and human stupidity.
Who cares what you think it is obvious you are as dumb as you talk. Question: how is your biracial son listed on his birth certificate and passport under race? Hell your own brother tried everything before he died to be white and in the end , he still is black with two black parents.