Janet Jackson has insisted her brother Michael’s legacy will carry on for years to come, despite further claims of sexual misconduct made against him.
The singer, 53, told how she loves to see children imitating her late brother’s look and noted that his music is still listened to regularly 10 years after his death.
She told The Sunday Times Magazine: ‘It will continue. I love it when I see kids emulating him, when adults still listen to his music. It just lets you know the impact that my family has had on the world.’
Janet Jackson, 53, has insisted her brother Michael’s legacy will carry on for years to come, despite further claims of sexual misconduct made against him (pictured in 1993)
Janet also told how growing up in the limelight meant she missed out on a lot of things children do because she was ‘busy working’.
She said: ‘I wanted to do gymnastics, but that couldn’t happen because I was busy working. But at least I had my brothers and sisters. They were my best friends.’
The youngest of 10 children, Janet’s older brothers began performing in the Jackson 5 when she was young and she later appeared on the variety show The Jacksons when she was 10.
The hitmaker also offered her thoughts on the Me Too movement, saying she believes there are still many ‘double standards’ for women.
The singer, 53, told how she loves to see children imitating her late brother’s look and noted that his music is still listened to regularly 10 years after his death (pictured in May 2019)
She said: ‘I am sick, I am repulsed, I am infuriated by the double standards that continue to treat women as second-class citizens. Enough.’
In the interview, Janet told how her path to musical stardom was set for her when she returned home from school one day when she was 13 and found her family listening to a song she had wrote and recorded.
Although she thought she would study business law in school, her father Joseph told her she was going to become a singer, saying God had a different path for her.
She said: ‘I love it when I see kids emulating him, when adults still listen to his music. It just lets you know the impact that my family has had on the world’ (pictured in 2018)
Janet’s comments about her brother come after the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland released earlier this year.
The film focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused by Michael Jackson when they were children.
Michael, who died in 2009 aged 50, was first accused of abuse in 1993 and was later tried and acquitted in 2005 of further child abuse allegations.
Mr Safechuck was 10 years old when he met Michael in 1986 on the set of a Pepsi advert.
The hitmaker also offered her thoughts on the Me Too movement, saying she believes there are still many ‘double standards’ for women (pictured in May 2017)
He alleges that the singer, who throughout his life denied any allegations of sexually abusing children, showered him with gifts while grooming both him and his family.
Mr Robson was five when he first met Michael after winning a dance competition in Brisbane. He alleges similar abuse.
Before Leaving Neverland premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the Jackson estate released a statement condemning the film, saying it was a ‘lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.’
Michael’s nephew Taj Jackson has also criticised the film, calling it ‘one-sided’.
He told NME: ‘I’m saying that is my uncle’s already gone through the system and my uncle’s already been declared not guilty.
‘My uncle’s already had a 10-year FBI investigation. It’s so unfair to convict him now off of a one-sided documentary, literally one-sided.’
Claims: Janet’s comments about her brother come after the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland released earlier this year (pictured in 1993)