Janet Jackson Describes Battle for Control of Her Career With Dad Joe: 'He Was Very Tough'
etonline.comThe Jackson family patriarch, the late Joe Jackson, was well-known for keeping tight reins on his children during his time as their manager, and Janet Jackson is opening up about the complex relationship she shared with her father.In the singer's four-part documentary from Lifetime and A+E, the 55-year-old looks back at her life and career to tell her story.
It's a rare moment for the pop icon to open up about her past, especially her struggle to step out of her family's shadows and from under her father's management.«He was a hard worker and he did whatever it took to feed his children,» Janet explains as she details her father's origins as a worker in a steel mill. «He didn’t want his kids on the streets.
He didn’t want us doing drugs. He wanted better for us.»That drive to see his children succeed was often expressed through Joe's strict control over his children's schedules, from ensuring their time at home be spent mostly rehearsing to selecting their upcoming roles himself.
Throughout their careers, the family was followed by reports that Joe physically abused his children as he molded them into world-class musicians, even admitting in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used a strap on his children, saying, «It kept them out of jail and kept them right.» In the documentary, Randy Jackson recalls how the siblings often lamented their late father's methods of keeping them in line, wondering «how someone could be so strict and so mean.»«We didn't understand his vision to keep us out of the gangs, out of trouble, and get us out of [their old house],» he told his younger sister.It's a sentiment that Janet shares, albeit, her feelings for their father are more complicated. «My father was a good-hearted guy, he.
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