Playboy Playmate to farm girl: meet the new Crystal Hefner!

Here’s everything you need to know about Michael and Janet’s roller coaster relationship.

A close start

As a little girl, Janet’s nickname was “Dunk” derived from “donkey”, which Michael famously coined. “A lot of his pet names had to do with my backside,” she wrote in her book, True You.

Although he is said to have meant no harm by the nickname, Janet admitted she “internalised” Michael’s body ideal and became obsessed with her size. “I embraced it, I internalised it, and, without knowing it, became tormented by it for years to come,” she wrote.

Bullying behaviour

The Nicknames might have poked fun, but Michael’s insults towards Janet became much more hurtful. In the new documentary, Janet claims that Michael would become cruel and fat-shame her during their childhood.

“There were times when Mike used to tease me and call me names. Pig, horse, slut or hog, cow,” she said. “He would laugh about it and I’d laugh too, but then there was some­where down inside that it would hurt. When you have somebody say you’re too heavy, it affects you.”

Turning point

7 celebrities with siblings just as successful and stunning as they are

“It was ‘Thriller’, that’s when it all started to change,” she revealed in her new documentary. “I remember really loving the ‘Thriller’ album, but for the first time in my life I felt it was different between us, a shift was happening.

“That’s the time Mike and I started going our separate ways. He just wasn’t as fun as he used to be,” she said.

The impact of the abuse claims

Then 13-year-old Jordan Chandler accused the singer of molesting him at Neverland in California, and Janet said she was completely devastated by the claim, but also angry at how it affected her.

“It was frustrating for me,” she said in the documentary. “We have our own separate lives and even though he’s my brother, that has nothing to do with me,” she said. “But I wanted to be there for him, to support him as much as I possibly could.”

Janet revealed that ahead of Michael’s abuse allegations, she was set to sign a deal with Coca-Cola. (At the time, Michael had a deal with rival brand Pepsi. The Coca-Cola contract was set to be the biggest brand deal of her career, but it was quickly derailed by the shocking allegations.

“When that came out, Coca-Cola said, ‘No, thank you,’” she said. “Guilty by association. That’s what they call it, right?”

Frozen out mid-reunion

Fortunately, all was not lost between the pair, and Janet later teamed up with Michael to fight back against the coverage of the allegations in their 1995 monster hit Scream. “It was his song and I was there to support him,” she said.

6 Hollywood stars settling down with their much younger girlfriends

But things quickly turned frosty again after Janet got frozen out by Michael’s team during the music video shoot.

“Michael shot nights, I shot days. His record company would block off his set so I couldn’t see what was going on. They didn’t want me on set,” she revealed.

“I felt like they were trying to make it very competitive between the two of us. That really hurt me because I felt I was there fighting the fight with him, not to battle him.”

Sadly, even though the song topped charts around the world and became an instant classic, it wasn’t enough to save the fragile relationship between the siblings.

“I wanted it to feel like old times between he and I, and it didn’t. Old times had long passed,” Janet admitted.

Putting on a united front

But even though things had changed between them, Janet remained fiercely protective of her brother. When new child abuse claims surfaced in the noughties, she was photographed holding Michael’s hand as she showed up with him at the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.

How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will take 2022 by storm

After his death, Janet also made a surprise courtroom appearance to hear testimony in Michael’s wrongful death trial.

Emotional tributes

In the years since Michael’s tragic death in 2009, Janet has continued to honour her brother. Soon after his passing, she performed Scream alone during a tribute at the MTV Video Music Awards 2009, and performed it on her own tours, too.

Janet celebrated what would have been Michael’s 60th birthday in 2018 with a homage to one of his most famous music videos, much to the delight of fans. She released a remake of his 1991 promo for Remember the Time, on social media. In the updated version, Janet takes the throne to judge dancers whose moves are inspired inspired by her late brother.

7 things to know about Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes ‘Lola’ Leon

Most recently, in 2020, Janet shared a birthday message to Michael on her Instagram account. “I miss u big bro”, she posted alongside a kiss emoji.

Watching Janet is sure to make fans feel crying face and broken heart emojis.