Janet Jackson finally addresses the decades-long rumor about her having a secret child with ex-husband James DeBarge during the second episode of her documentary series on A&E
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The legendary artist discussed the rumor and said she assumed the public was focused on her weight at the time during her role on the TV series “Fame.” In 1984, the then-18-year-old Jackson was secretly married to DeBarge when he was 21, and rumors circulated that the former couple had a child together. However, Jackson said the rumors are not true as she wouldn’t keep a child away from their father.
“Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret. 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.”
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She continued to say, “A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant because I had gained weight. I had started taking birth control pills, and back then, you could pick up weight taking them. And that’s what happened to me. So that rumor started going around.”
According to Insider, DeBarge also addressed the rumor in 2017 and claimed a woman told him that she was their secret child. However, the woman’s claims were proven to be false after taking a paternity test.