Back in 2009, Janet Jackson told ABC’s Robin Roberts that her family was not naive about Michael Jackson’s drug problem, saying that she reached out to her brother throughout the years, but was unsuccessful.

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“I did,” she said. “Of course, that’s what you do. Those are the things that you do when you love someone. You can’t just let them continue on that way. And we did a few times. We weren’t very successful.”

Jackson said Michael understood that the family’s motives for the interventions were out of love.

“How do I say this? Understanding. I guess that will be the best way to — understood that it was out of love, because of caring. But when it’s something like that, people can tend to be in denial,” she said.

When asked if her brother was in denial about his addiction, she replied, “Possibly.”

“I wish he could answer this question for you and not me,” she said. “I felt that he was in denial.”

“You can’t make ’em drink the water. … I’m a true believer in prayer, a big believer in prayer — but it’s, it’s something that you can’t do for them. Something they have to do for themselves,” she said.

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[Sources: Red Alert Live; ABC News]

What do you think? Is Cosby taking it too far by solely placing the blame on the families? Remember MJ and Whitney were adults whom just like anyone else, cannot be forced against their will to take action. Or do you think Bill Cosby makes a great point, that the families could have stopped the unfortunate situations? Because on the flip side, unconditional love of those closest to you can sometimes supercede the emotional/psychological/biological gravitational pull that one might have. Let us know your opinion on this ILOSM fam.’

Although we never know what a person is going through internally to drive them to any addiction that they might have, but one thing’s for sure, both Whitney and Michael were sorely loved by their families. the gallery on the next pages are pure evidence of that. MJ and Whitney are two of the best to have EVER done it! We at ILOSM believe that there is a lot to be learned from the lives of icons such as them. May they both rest well.