Janet Jackson two-part documentary set at Lifetime and A&E
The 'two-night event' is set to air in early 2022
Set to air in early 2022 on Lifetime and A&E, a Janet Jackson two-part documentary is in the works to celebrate her iconic first album.
Jackson released her first album, Janet Jackson, in 1982. Now, 20 years later, a four-hour documentary event is set to air to celebrate Jackson’s lasting impact and legacy. According to Variety, the documentary, which is currently under the working title JANET., “promises to offer unprecedented access to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s life, and an intimate, honest and unfiltered look at the untold story of one of the highest-earning artists in music history.”
The documentary is set to be a two-night event, and is co-produced by Workerbee and Associated Entertainment Corporation.
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JANET. has reportedly been filming for three years now. The documentary will follow many landmark moments in the singer’s career, as well as some of her most controversial moments.
Variety reports, “Producers were granted exclusive access to archival footage and never-before-seen home videos while developing the documentary for the past three years,” and that the documentary will also “detail the most talked-about moments of her life, including her 2004 Super Bowl appearance with Justin Timberlake in which she inadvertently exposed a portion of her breast, sparking controversy that would hover for more than a decade.”
Variety also reports the series will cover Jackson’s reaction to the loss of her brother, Michael Jackson, as well as her father Joseph, who passed away in 2018. The documentary is executive produced by Jackson herself and Randy Jackson and is directed by Ben Hirsch. The documentary is a part of the “2,500 hours of new programming” A&E Networks announced at the A&E upfront.
Under Lifetime’s “Broader Focus” initiative, the company, “champions the creation of content developed and produced by diverse voices that spotlights the way people are changing their communities in the name of social justice.”
Jackson has been celebrating many major milestones in recent headlines. TheGrio’s Matthew Allen recently caught up with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis on the 35th anniversary of Janet’s Control album.
Jam recalled the studio sessions with Jackson to theGrio, explaining, “We basically just talked for the longest time before we even went in the studio just about what she wanted to do and what she liked and what she didn’t like and those types of things…And then we showed her the lyrics to what became ‘Control.’ And she said, ‘Well, wait, this is what we’ve been talking about,’ and we said, ‘Yeah,’ and she said, ‘So whatever we talk about, that’s what we’re going to write about.’”
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