Vault: Janet Jackson Interview

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bert Show – Vault: Janet Jackson Interview (July 15, 2026)

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Episode Overview

This special episode of The Bert Show features a vault interview with the legendary Janet Jackson. The conversation dives into her latest projects, candid takes on fame and family, the challenges of interviewing high-profile celebrities, and navigating publicist-imposed boundaries. The tone is relaxed, authentic, and at times wryly humorous, showcasing the show’s trademark mix of realness and warmth.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Behind the Scenes: Celebrity Interviews and Publicist Drama

[01:00 – 04:50]

• The hosts discuss an awkward moment that occurred during their interview with Janet Jackson, triggered by her publicist’s sudden interruption.

• Publicist interference: The publicist had specified, via email, not to ask Janet about her brother’s passing or the Jackson family ([01:41]). The hosts clarify they intended to respect those wishes.

• The contentious moment arose when the hosts asked Janet about the oft-rumored Jackson family reunion tour. The publicist interpreted this as a family question and intervened mid-interview.

• The hosts express frustration about overly aggressive celebrity publicists, emphasizing how such interruptions can derail interesting conversations.

  “If you scratch at Janet’s surface, there’s still a little girl that feels inferior to her older brothers. And it was just starting to get interesting. And the publicist comes in and shuts it down…”
  — Radio Host ([02:53])

• The dynamic of "good cop, bad cop" between celebrities and their publicists is explored, noting there are more effective and respectful ways to handle tough questions.

  “Publicists are good. It’s good cop, bad cop... but like Jen said, there’s a way to be a bad cop and be effective instead of just being, you know, offensive.”
  — Radio Co-host ([04:32])

2. Catching Up with Janet Jackson

[05:00 – 10:55]

a. Current Projects and Personal Life

• Janet shares she’s been busy with a new film, a book, and the theme song for her movie ([05:13]).

• When asked if her life is "exciting or boring," Janet laughs it off:

  “Well, it’s not boring for me. It might be boring for them, but I’m always on the move, always doing something... the minute I have a few days to just take a breather, I seize the moment.”
  — Janet Jackson ([05:30])

• On unwinding, Janet loves the ocean, the beach, spending time with friends and family, and watching old black-and-white films ([05:46]).

b. The Jackson Reunion Tour Rumors

• Hosts address persistent media rumors of a Jackson family reunion tour and ask Janet directly if she’s been invited to join ([06:08]).

• Janet candidly replies:

  “No one’s asked me about being involved with a reunion tour so that I know nothing of. I wish I had a different answer, but that’s all that I can really say.”
  — Janet Jackson ([06:19])

• Asked if she’d be open to it, Janet says she’d need to “give it a great deal of thought,” but enthusiastically supports her brothers doing it:

  “I think they should for sure do a reunion tour... people have been dying to see them for a very, very long time and really miss their energy on stage...”
  — Janet Jackson ([06:41])

• Janet reflects on her own role:

  “When I think about the Jacksons, I want to see them perform. I don’t think about wanting to see me perform with them, but that’s me as a fan.”
  — Janet Jackson ([07:07])

c. ‘Why Did I Get Married Too?’ – The Movie

• Janet summarizes her film, focusing on relationships, forgiveness, trust, and the contrast between paradise and drama ([07:31]).

d. Giving Relationship Advice

• The hosts ask if people seek Janet for relationship guidance due to her film role. Janet notes this has always been the case:

  “Some of my friends call me their therapist... I’m sitting here thinking, okay, I’ve been married twice and divorced twice. Why do you want me to be... I’m still trying to figure this out for myself, but they do.”
  — Janet Jackson ([08:18])

• She draws parallels between herself and her character Patricia, including the habit of helping others more than herself.

e. Marriage and Family—Looking Ahead

• Asked if she’s open to marrying again, Janet responds thoughtfully:

  “If it’s God’s plan for me—and that’s really not a cop out—then it’s gonna happen. And that’s the way that I see having a family. If it’s in my cards, it’s gonna happen.”
  — Janet Jackson ([09:08])

f. New Song: ‘Nothing’

• Janet and Jermaine Dupri co-wrote and produced the lead song for her movie soundtrack. The song was inspired by the movie's characters and has been well received ([09:27]).

g. Her Relationship with Jermaine Dupri

• The hosts commend Janet's mature, loving friendship with Jermaine, despite their past romantic relationship. Janet speaks warmly:

  “We never stop loving one another. I adore, adore, adore him... He is such a good man and has such a wonderful heart, and I'm so thankful that he's allowing me to still be in his life and that we’re such good friends. We speak every single day...”
  — Janet Jackson ([10:10])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On her family role:

  “When I think about the Jacksons, I want to see them perform. I don’t think about wanting to see me perform with them... but that’s me as a fan.”
  — Janet Jackson ([07:07])

• On publicist interruptions:

  "She interrupted Janet while she was talking. So I think that was kind of probably what threw everybody’s... Like if Janet was going to say something."
  — Radio Co-host ([03:27])

• On post-breakup friendship:

  “We never stop loving one another. I adore, adore, adore him... We speak every single day.”
  — Janet Jackson ([10:10])

• Hosts reassuring Janet:

  “You're not just little sister tagging along.”
  — Radio Host ([10:44])
  “You may not know this. You're Janet Jackson.”
  — Radio Host ([10:46])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Publicist drama and interview backstory: [01:00 – 04:50]
• Janet Jackson joins the interview: [05:00]
• Janet on life, R&R, and movies: [05:13 – 06:08]
• Jackson reunion tour rumors addressed: [06:08 – 07:30]
• Discussion of ‘Why Did I Get Married Too?’ [07:31 – 08:18]
• On being a friend’s ‘therapist’: [08:18 – 09:01]
• Thoughts on love, marriage, and family: [09:08 – 09:22]
• ‘Nothing’ and working with Jermaine Dupri: [09:27 – 10:10]
• On her current relationship with Jermaine: [10:10 – 10:34]
• Closing affirmations & farewells: [10:41 – 10:55]

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Summary

This episode gives listeners a candid glimpse behind the curtain of high-profile interviews, Janet Jackson’s reflective thoughts on her career, family, and relationships, and the real-world frustrations of dealing with celebrity PR boundaries. Janet exudes warmth, humility, and humor, while the Bert Show hosts keep the conversation light, honest, and inviting. A must-listen for fans seeking insight into Janet’s world and the day-to-day reality of engaging with pop culture’s biggest stars.

Transcript

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[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Listen, it's the Janet Jackson. We love Janet. Love her. Had her on a bunch of times and she's always been great to us. She's actually been really honest in interviews that we've done with her. Man, she gives it up. She does. So we had Janet Jackson scheduled to talk to after the show yesterday. And we did start to talk to her and things get awkward, man. In the middle of this interview because her publicist interrupts right in the middle of the interview when it was really starting to get interesting.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

Did you guys leave that in there?

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

No, we took it out.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

Oh.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

We started asking her about. Because did the publicist say immediately, like no personal questions to Janet Jackson?

[Radio Producer or Staff]

No, they said no. The specific request was actually, I could read it.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

The specific request, Michael, like not to

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

ask about his death, which we've done already. I mean, we spent 20 minutes talking to Janet Jackson months ago about how she's handling the death of her brother. And she was cool with it and we were cool with it, but why would we ever do it again? We've already been there with her, so it wasn't even gonna come up.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

Stupid radio stations.

[Mint Mobile Commercial Announcer]

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[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

And they want to make sure that everybody's respectful about that because. And you can understand that we wouldn't have crossed that line.

[Radio Producer or Staff]

It just said there's a. One of her publicists sent a long email saying about the song and the movie and all this other stuff. And then it said no question should be asked in regard to her brother's passing or The Jackson family. Now you'll hear the question that causes the problem in here is a question about her going on tour with her brothers.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

That's where it all starts, right there,

[Janet Jackson]

which is her family.

[Radio Producer or Staff]

And I think the publicist freaked out because that sounded like a family question. But in the conversations I had with them yesterday, I tried to explain if the rumor was that she was going to go on tour with Coldplay and that wasn't confirmed, we would have asked the same question. That wasn't a family question. That wasn't a Michael Jackson question. That wasn't a crazy question.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

Freaking out, thinking we were going to lead into something else.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

Maybe.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

But, I mean, it's. That's when the interview started to get interesting. Because if you scratch at Janet's surface, there's still a little girl that feels inferior to her older brothers. And it was just starting to get interesting. And the publicist comes in and shuts it down and says, will you guys start talking about the movie? And I normally don't get thrown, but yesterday, I don't know if I just didn't get sleep and I'm on these painkillers, and I didn't stick up for us, and I feel like I sort of failed us yesterday. Cause I should have said, look, we know how we're doing. We know how to do interviews. We've talked to Janet before. We'll get to the movie in a second. Which is how we've handled it before. But yesterday I just choked.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

Well, I think the unique thing of what happened yesterday, we've certainly had publicists that tried to nix certain, you know, questions we started asking. But she interrupted Janet's answer. Yeah, she interrupted Janet while she was talking. So I think that was kind of probably what threw everybody's like, wait a second. You know, like. Like if Janet was going to say something.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

So it's going to get weird in here. You'll hear an edit. You won't actually hear the publisher. Maybe we'll put the. The whole real, unedited version up online. But you'll hear a weird edit because it wasn't. It's not even entertaining. She was just rude, really.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

I can't stand rude celebrity publicists. And I think that they feel like they earn their stripes by being more rude to the media. Like, they almost earn credit with each other by how mean they are. Because I've run into them in Los Angeles the last couple of trips I've been out there, and they, like, get off on being rude. It's really, really frustrating. Like, I'M developing, like, a real pure

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

form of hatred for them.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

The more I think about it, the more we should have just kept it in so you guys could get sort of insight on what happens. But we'll put it up online that way. But as the client, as Janet, if I'm Janet, when I get off the phone with us, I'm like, there's got to be a way to. A better way to handle that publicist.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

It should be. Publicists are good. It's good cop, bad cop. Because the celebrity is telling the publicist, you've got to be the bad cop for me, so that I don't have to look, you know, I don't have to look rude by refusing to answer a question. So I get the nature of the good cop, bad cop. But like Jen said, there's a way to be a bad cop and be effective instead of just being, you know, offensive.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

And she was just offensive. So she does have a new movie out this weekend. Why Did I Get Married two? That she's in. But you're not gonna hear us talk much about it during this interview. Janet Jackson.

[Janet Jackson]

Hello.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

How are you, Janet Jackson?

[Janet Jackson]

I'm well, thank you. How are you doing?

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Really good. We love talking to you.

[Janet Jackson]

Well, thank you. That's very sweet. I enjoy talking to you, too.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

A couple months, but, yeah. What's been going on? You got a lot of stuff going on, actually.

[Janet Jackson]

Film, book, theme song for the movie. Nothing.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

If people really knew what Janet Jackson's life was, would they say, oh, my God, it's so exciting, or, oh, my God, it's so boring?

[Janet Jackson]

I don't think it's. Well, it's not boring for me. It might be boring for them, but I'm always on the move, always doing something. So the minute I have a few days to just take a breather, I seize the moment.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

And when you have those brief times where you just take a breather, what do you do?

[Janet Jackson]

If I can get away, I do. I love the ocean. That's my thing. I love humidity, heat, warm weather. I love the beach. And if I can't, it's about being with my friends, being with my family, playing games. I love reading. I love watching. Going to the movies or watching black and white films. Old films.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Yeah. You brought up the family, and every day it seems like there's a different rumor about what's going on with the tour here. Is there going to be a Jackson reunion tour? Are you involved with it? Are you not involved with it? Every day there's a different rumor.

[Janet Jackson]

No One's asked me about being involved with a reunion tour so that I know nothing of. I wish I had a different answer, but that's all that I can really say. I haven't discussed. None of my brothers have discussed with me about doing a reunion tour.

[Child in Carvana Commercial]

Would you be open to doing a tour?

[Janet Jackson]

I'd have to really give it a great deal of thought. I think they should for sure do a reunion tour. For sure. Then I think people have been dying to see them for a very, very long time and, and, and, and really miss their energy on stage. And I think it would be great.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Now, I. I heard very distinctly they're almost bolded and underlined and italicized them, they should do a reunion tour. Why would you be reluctant to jump on that?

[Janet Jackson]

Because it's not really being that reluctant. I just think people want to see them and not necessarily their little sister tagging along with them. Who knows? But when I think about the Jacksons, I want to see them perform. I don't think about wanting to see me perform with them, but that's me as a fan.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Let's talk about the movie.

[Janet Jackson]

Why Did I Get Married To. It's about four couples that have been friends since college, and they go on an annual vacation and they revisit the question, why did I get married? So it brings up a lot of things. There's a. They're shot in the Bahamas, then the Bahamas, vacationing, and it's paradise. And then a lot of drama happens while they're in paradise. And it's about forgiveness, about trust, about communication, about healing, about not healing. It's very funny, very funny at times. And then it gets very dramatic at times.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

Now, Janet, I saw the first movie, and I thought it was fantastic. And do you find. Because your character is. Is she a psychologist? Is that her profession, too? Because I wondered if now, in your private life, if people come to you for relationship advice, because they seem to be doing that in the movie.

[Janet Jackson]

It's always. It was that way before the movie. That's one of the things that I connected with the character Patricia, because some of my friends call me their therapist, actually. And this was before the film. And I'm sitting here thinking, okay, I've been married twice and divorced twice. Why do you want me to be. I'm still trying to figure this out for myself, but they do. And obviously, I guess I'm giving okay advice, and I know I'm a wonderful listener because that I can do. But they keep coming back. So I'm always helping people with Their issues. And I used to like Patricia, not deal with my own, when my own would come about. So that's where I related to her in those two areas.

[Radio Co-host (possibly Jen or similar)]

After doing these two movies and like you said, getting married and divorced twice, are you open to marriage ever again in your personal life?

[Janet Jackson]

You know, if it's God's plan for me, and that's really not a cop out, then it's gonna happen. And that's the way that I see that. That's the way that I see having a family. If it's in my cards, it's gonna happen.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

And you did the lead song for the soundtrack also. You and Jermaine worked on this together, right?

[Janet Jackson]

Yes, we wrote it together. We produced it together. It's called Nothing, and it was really inspired from the characters in the movie. That was the true inspiration for it. And it's available on itunes. And I'm really happy because people have been listening to this song and really, really taken to it. They've really been enjoying it and really responsive. So I'm glad they're liking it.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

You know, we're here in Atlanta, so we have to ask. I think everybody is sort of, like, fascinated with the relationship with you and Jermaine because you guys have both been such adults about it. And I think when people go through the same kind of things you guys have gone through usually go separate ways. But you guys have formed this beautiful relationship, and it seems to be seamless.

[Janet Jackson]

We never stop loving one another. I adore, adore, adore him. He is such a good man and has such a wonderful heart, and I'm so thankful that he's allowing me to still be in his life and that we're such good friends. We speak every single day. I just. I adore Jermaine, and I will hope that he will always allow me to be in his life.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Well, good luck with the song and good luck with the movie. And I know from an outsider's perspective, I would love to see you part of that tour, so.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

Oh, yeah.

[Mint Mobile Commercial Announcer]

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[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

You wouldn't be just a little sister. Yeah, right.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

You're not just a little sister. You may not know this. You're Janet Jackson.

[Janet Jackson]

I'm not just little sister tagging along.

[Child in Carvana Commercial]

Well, you are Janet Jackson.

[Radio Co-host (possibly another host like Jen or Michael)]

You are Janet.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

All right, Janet. Thanks a lot for the time.

[Janet Jackson]

Thank you.

[Radio Host (possibly Michael Baisden or similar)]

Bye. Bye.

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[McDonald's Commercial Disclaimer]

Refreshers contain caffeine.