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Janet: Michael Called Me "Big Butt"
Wednesday October 4, 2006


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On the heels of her new album, 20 Y.O., pop and R&B star Janet Jackson takes Us Weekly inside the private childhood in America’s most talked about family.
 
In 1968, when the Jackson 5 signed with Motown, the family of 11 left their three-bedroom home in Gary, Indiana, where dad Joe Jackson worked at a steel plant and mom Katherine for Sears. In a 22-room estate in L.A.’s Encino area, Joe controlled his kid’s careers – and lives – with an iron fist.
 
“He whipped me one time, and I won’t forget it, that’s for sure,” Janet, 40, says of the notoriously strong-willed patriarch, who demanded his kids call him Joseph instead of Dad. “A lot of people believe in putting a little fear into their children, just to let them know who’s boss,” she says.
 
And Joe wasn’t the only man in the family giving Janet a hard time. She confesses that brother Michael damaged her self-image by teasing her constantly about her weight, calling her “big butt.” “After a while, it went beyond name-calling. It really affected me.”
 
Why wouldn’t Janet’s mother let her children spend time at friend’s houses when they were growing up? Is Janet (who’s been sporting a 17.5-carat yellow diamond ring) engaged to boyfriend Jermaine Dupri? Does the couple want to have children? For more details on Janet’s unusual upbringing and career plans, check out the current issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.
 
Talk to Us: What do you think of Janet's new album?

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