Janet Jackson has been making headlines lately for various reasons- her massive weight lost/new post baby body, her recent surprise visit to uplift the survivors of hurricane Harvey, and her State of the World Tour that kicked off last week. As of now though, it is her most recent performance in Houston, TX (in which she donated proceeds to the Harvey survivors there) that has everybody talking.

During her Saturday (9-9-17) night performance in Houston, Janet performed her 1997 hit, “What About That.” The song is about Janet’s past domestic violence she says she endured in prior relationships back in the day. Here are some of the lyrics:

“What about the times you yelled at me? / What about the times I cried? You wouldn’t even hold me. What about those things?/ What about that, what about that? /What about the times you hit my face? /What about the times you kept on when I said, ‘No more please’ / What about those things?”

The song has apparently been such an emotional one for Janet, that up until her tour kickoff in Lafayette, La. on Thursday, September 7, 2017, she had not performed it since 1999. It was reported that Janet was slightly emotional while singing “What About That” in Lafayette, but during her Houston show, her emotions became too much for her to control.

During the set, her male and female dancers performed reeanactments of domestic violence- slapping, pushing, and punching each other- as Janet sing the song. Toward the end of the song, Janet broke down to tears, pointed toward the dancers and said “This is me,” apparently referring to the domestic violence scenes they’d just performed as being either who she is, or once was. As Janet cried, the crowd shouted uplifting words to her, in efforts to try to console her from afar.

WATCH JANET’S EMOTIONAL PERFORMANCE

Janet’s breakdown left many to wonder if Janet has gone through domestic violence recently, or if her tears were because “What About That” just brings back too many horrific memories for her to endure. Hopefully it is the latter.

Ms. Jackson is a strong woman, who has gone through a lot as a member of one of the greatest musical families of all time. So whatever the cause of her tears are, she represents strength every time she steps on that stage to sing about her life’s ups and downs.

https://twitter.com/mzshannon/status/906713798349901824

Her Current Personal Life

In regards to Janet’s current personal life, it’s been widely reported that she and her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Wissam Al Mana, have a great friendship and are successfully co-parenting their newborn son, Eissa Al Mana.

The last time Janet publicly spoke on the statues of their marriage was in May 2017, when she posted a video online informing her fans of their split.