TMZ, the tabloid titan that accurately broke the story that Janet’s older brother Michael had died three years ago, falsely reported that Ms. Jackson slapped and cussed out niece Paris Jackson — allegedly calling her a “spoiled little (expletive)” — at the Jackson family compound in Calabasas, Calif., last week.
This false story may have also helped to get Janet barred from her own mother’s house. Now Janet is threatening legal action against the perpetrators of the fabrication.
It was the “slap” heard around the world that helped galvanize a legion of bloodthirsty “reporters” to aim linguistic missiles at the talented but troubled family in the midst of a clan crises. Only no one heard the slap because it didn’t take place. It also helped to hatch a series of outlandish accusations against the family that also may not have any basis in truth.
The best example of this are the various reports that Janet is involved in trying to invalidate the executors of the King of Pop’s estate based upon money. But as rolling out has previously stated, Janet has stacked some serious chips over the course of her Hall of Fame-worthy career, to the tune of $150 million, making Janet one of the world’s richest female musicians. Why would Janet want her brother’s money when she has a surplus of her own? It didn’t make sense from the beginning.
Worse, news outlets continued to peddle this mistruth even after Paris Jackson went on Twitter and said that Janet did not hit her.
Also more troubling is the fact that elite news sources began quoting TMZ as if it were gospel without taking into account the legal repercussions Janet would have faced if she actually did assault Paris. If there was videotaped evidence that Janet had slapped Paris Jackson, don’t you believe that Janet would have been the object of the LAPD’s and L.A. County’s wrath for domestic violence or assaulting a minor? Heck, Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. has a warrant for his arrest in New Orleans and all he did was allegedly shove a female bartender who got in his face.
Here is TMZ’s mea culpa (well, sort of):
Janet Jackson did not slap or verbally abuse Paris Jackson during a confrontation at the Jackson family home in Calabasas last week.
TMZ published a story last week based on sources who told us Janet went off onMichael Jackson’s daughter after the singer tried to grab Paris’ cell phone. We also reported Janet called Paris a “spoiled little bitch.”
Although we believed the story to be true when we published it, we have now determined it was not correct … Janet did not slap or otherwise touch Paris, nor did she verbally abuse her.
