Janet Jackson‘s older brother, Steven Randall “Randy” Jackson, is speaking out on the verbal abuse that he says his sister endured while she was married to Wissam Al Mana, saying, “Enough is enough.”
“There’s a lot of pain. Janet’s been through a lot with her divorce. I’ve been through a lot, we all have,” Randy told People, claiming that his sister was verbally abused all the way through the end of her marriage.
“It was quite an abusive situation,” Randy said. “It came on later in the relationship, verbal abuse and being [made to feel like] a prisoner in her own home. No pregnant woman needs to go through being called a bitch everyday. There were things like that. That’s what she went through.”
–Janet Jackson stuns with launch of ‘State of the World’ tour–
He went on to say that he felt he had to help his sister earlier this year and told her to move in with him.
“I told her, ‘You’ve got to move in with me or I’m going to go over there and there’s going to be hell.’ She was really pissed off. I told her, ‘I don’t care anymore. I’m tired of it. It’s too much,’ ” he recalled.
He added that “the abuse is still going on,” mostly because the pair are in contact for coparenting duties.
“She has custody and he of course allowed her to bring the baby on tour, but it’s constant harassment. This tour almost didn’t happen, but by the grace of God we’re here and we’re very prayerful,” he explained.
Randy’s statements come after fans became concerned when Janet broke down onstage while singing “What About,” a song about abuse.
As for Al Mana, he denied the allegations in a statement to People, saying, “Mr. Al Mana is not going to dignify these particular and deeply hurtful allegations with a response.”
“The breakdown of his marriage to Janet Jackson is a cause of great sadness to Mr. Al Mana, and it is the wellbeing and privacy of their son, Eissa, that remains his sole focus.”