Pop legend Janet Jackson has scored many mega hits over the decades, including ‘Rhythm Nation’, ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’, ‘Together Again’ and ‘Love Would Never Do Without You’. She topped the charts, while staying out of the shadow of her superstar older brother Michael Jackson, per BBC. Who among us hasn’t at some point uttered his famous verse from his hit song “Nasty” – “No, my name isn’t baby.” It’s Janet. Miss Jackson if you’re mean! We stan a queen.
As many know, one of her friends, who also happens to be an 80s pop queen, is Paula Abdul. In 2021, when the ‘Opposites Attract’ singer was set to return to the ‘American Idol’ stage, years after quitting her famed judging job on the show, per Yahoo, Jackson made sure to back her up. . “Sending my love to you today” the “Miss You Much” singer wrote on her official Instagram account, along with a rare retro photo of the two. The big hair, the feathered bangs – 80s overload!
Before “American Idol,” Abdul released hit songs from the 80s and 90s like “Forever Your Girl” and “The Way That You Love Me,” and his videos were full of killer dance moves and emotional storytelling. Her sweet romance with Keanu Reeves in her “Rush Rush” video had a “Rebel Without A Cause” vibe, per Slate. But it turns out that Jackson is the reason Abdul became a princess of pop because their friendship goes way back.
Paula Abdul’s career took off after choreographing for Janet Jackson
In 1986, pop icon Janet Jackson was about to release her seminal album ‘Control’, inspired by a tumultuous time in her life. She had just divorced her first husband, James DeBarge, and fired her father Joe Jackson as manager, per Jezebel. The album is full of songs that show she was more than Michael Jackson’s little sister. Songs like “Nasty”, “What have you done for me lately? and “Control” are fierce, feminist, feisty, and in your face. For the accompanying music videos, she was going to need someone to choreograph dance routines that suited her new outlook, vibe, and position.
Enter stage right: Paula Abdul. In the 80s, Abdul was not yet a pop star and certainly not yet an “American Idol” judge. She was a cheerleader for the LA Lakers basketball team and her team was affectionately known as the Laker Girls. Still a teenager, she had her first contact with the famous Jackson family in 1984 when she was brought in to choreograph The Jackson’s “Torture” music video, according to The LA Times. That’s when the opportunity presented itself. “I’m very grateful, because that was really the big start of my career,” Abdul told Rolling Stone in 2014 of the choreography for the “Nasty” music video. “I was really, really excited to work with her. Abdul also starred in the video, then choreographed “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” and “When I think of you”.
Did Paula Abdul have an affair with Janet Jackson’s brother Jackie?
We’re so happy to see that pop legends Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul have a great relationship today, because for decades there were rumors that there was a huge rift between the two, and all that was apparently due to Janet’s brother, Jackie Jackson, a famous member of the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons. In 1991, news broke that Abdul allegedly had an affair with Jackie in the early ’80s while still married to his wife Enid Jackson, per The Baltimore Sun. This was around the time the “Straight Up” singer choreographed The Jackson’s “Torture” video. The outlet also reported that the affair could have led to an abortion.
In their 1991 review of J. Randy Taraborrelli’s biography “Michael Jackson: Magic and Madness,” The Washington Post added to the rumours, noting that the biography claimed that Jackie’s wife, Enid, was so exasperated by the case that there had been an altercation between her and Abdul, which resulted in the “Cold-Hearted Snake” singer being pulled from a car. This led to an alleged falling out between Abdul and Janet. In 2012, The National Enquirer reported in its print edition (via Celebrity Dirty Laundry) that Janet still considered the “Rush Rush” singer a “house wrecker.” It seems that time heals all wounds!
