Janet Jackson CONFRONTS Oprah For Tricking Michael Jackson

Janet Jackson Says It ‘Hurt’ When Brother Michael Teased Her About Her Weight, Calling Her ‘Pig’

“When you have someone say, ‘you’re too heavy,’ even if it was out of love, it affects you,” the singer admitted

Michael and Janet Jackson. Photo: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

As Janet Jackson struggled with body image issues as a kid, teasing from her brother Michael didn’t help matters, she says in a new documentary.

Janet, 55, talked about her relationship with her body and with her late older brother Michael in part 2 of Lifetime’s Janet documentary, which aired over the weekend, saying that “there were times when Mike used to tease me and call me names.”

The five-time Grammy winner said that he would call her “pig, horse, slut, or hog, cow.”

“It wasn’t out of malice on his part at all. Brothers tease sisters, sisters tease brothers and it was just fun and funny,” she said. “But, then there was somewhere down inside that would hurt when you have someone say, ‘You’re too heavy,’ even if it was out of love, it affects you.”

Janet Jackson. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Janet said that her body image issues worsened through the years, particularly after she was cast in the sitcom Good Times.

“I did Good Times, and that’s the beginning of having weight issues and the way I looked at myself,” she said. “I was developing at a very young age and I started getting a chest, and they would bind it so I would look more flat-chested.”

“I’m an emotional eater, so when I get stressed or something is really bothering me, it comforts me,” she added.

In a 2018 interview, Janet said that the pressures of the music industry also played a part in her weight struggles.

“I remember growing up and being in this business [self-image] was always this important thing. Because it was the thing,” she previously told InStyle. “And you had to be a certain size, you had to be thin to be an entertainer. Stupid crap like that. That’s just this business I’m in.”

Janet was able to move past her insecurities through therapy, and “getting older.”

“Therapy helped a great deal with that. I had to find something in my body that I loved, and that was difficult for me to do,” she admitted. “At first, I couldn’t find anything. I would look in the mirror and start crying. I didn’t like that I was not attractive. I didn’t like anything about me. But I wound up falling in love with the small of my back. And then from there I found more things.”