If it's a new month, there must be a new Jackson family scandal in the news. This month is no different.
In a radio interview last Friday on New York City's WQHT-FM, Janet Jackson's former brother-in-law Young DeBarge claimed that his older brother James DeBarge and Jackson had a secret child together. The two were wed for three months in 1984, after privately eloping.
According to Young, the child was hidden away and raised in secret by Jackson's older sister Rebbie Jackson. The daughter, named Renee, would supposedly be eighteen years old now. If that is true, she would have been born in 1987, almost three years after Jackson and DeBarge divorced and went their separate ways.
Jackson, 39, originally kept quiet on these allegations over the weekend, but yesterday released a short statement to the media.
"I do not have a child and all allegations saying so are false," said Jackson succinctly in the statement.
James DeBarge, who was a member of the hit 80s group DeBarge, and Rebbie Jackson have not commented on this at all.
The charge is nothing new -- Jackson has been accused of having a child several times over her lengthy career. Each time, she has completely denied the allegations and no definitive proof has ever been uncovered that she has ever given birth to a child.
One has to wonder about the timing of these renewed allegations, as well. Young DeBarge is currently promoting his debut album, and we all know, nothing sells like controversy.
In addition to the claims of a clandestine birth, Jackson has been trying to stop the online distribution of a video taken of her sunbathing in her backyard without her permission. The clip shows, among other things, her pretending to play her butt like a set of bongos. So far, the original poster of the video has not been found, and no charges have been filed.
