Janet Jackson., the two-night docuseries about the career and personal life of Janet Jackson that aired over the weekend on Lifetime, was hyped as an intimate portrait of the pop icon that would show sides of her the public rarely sees. That wasn’t a lie, but it’s not the full truth either.
Rarely seen private video, much of it shot by Jackson’s second husband, René Elizondo Jr., is sprinkled throughout the roughly four-hour series, capturing Jackson on vacation in Hawaii, arguing with Jimmy Jam in the studio during the making of her 1989 album, Rhythm Nation 1814, and typing in the bedroom of her brother Michael’s New York City apartment while the two work on the lyrics to their rage-filled hit “Scream.” Present-day Jackson speaks on-camera about a variety of subjects including…
