Where Is Janet? There Were Three Missing Jackson Kids In Michael
The Jackson family is featured prominently in the new music biopic Michael, which hit the 2026 movie schedule this weekend. However, Joe and Kathrine Jackson had nine kids who lived to adulthood (Brandon Jackson died in infancy), but only seven of the kids are seen in the box office success. Most notably missing is Janet Jackson, the second most successful singer in the family. Rebbie Jackson, the oldest daughter (and oldest child), is also absent, as is the youngest brother, Randy. While some members of the family are very excited about the movie, others, like these three, seem far less so.
Janet Jackson Chose Not To Be A Part Of Michael
At the premiere of Michael, La Toya Jackson explained that her younger sister, Janet, “politely declined” to be a part of the film. La Toya added that “you have to respect her wishes.” However, according to some reporting, mostly from gossip outlets, the rift between Janet and the rest of the family may not be so simple. According to the paper, she and Randy have been firmly against this movie and really at odds with the rest of the family.
In one article, Page Six quoted a source as saying:
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[Janet] had something negative to say about almost every scene.
That comment supposedly came after a private screening for the family. It also, according to the source, led Janet to confront her brother, Jermaine, with the anonymous source telling Page Six:
The acting, the makeup, how the actors spoke, even how they walked. It was Janet deciding against the room that this movie wasn’t going to meet her approval.
This may have partly stemmed from the fact that it’s Jermaine’s son, Jafaar Jackson, who plays Michael in the movie. According to the article, Jermaine told Janet that she was just being jealous. That casting decision, which, I’ll add, was a stroke of genius as Jafaar is really quite wonderful in the role, may also be at play in why Randy wasn’t a part of the movie.
Randy’s History With Jermaine Is Even More Complicated
I’m not going to get into all the sorted details of the complicated relationship all the siblings in the family have with each other and their parents, but one that stands out here is Randy and Jermaine’s mutual relationship with Alejandra Oaziaza. Oaziaza was Randy’s partner (and the mother of two of Randy’s kids) from 1986 until 1994. In 1995, Oaziaza married Jermaine. The two were married until 2004 and have two children together, including Jafaar.
According to Vanity Fair, this has long been a source of tension between Randy and Jermaine, and, with Jermaine serving as a producer on the movie and his son starring in it, it may have reignited some of this old bad blood. It also, according to the report in Vanity Fair, may have been another factor in Janet not participating, as Randy and Janet are quite close.
Rebbie Jackson Also Declined To Be In The Film
The oldest Jackson sibling, Rebbie, does not appear in the film, either. Her decision not to participate is less clear than even Janet and Randy’s, however. Some, like The Direct, have speculated that she isn’t involved in solidarity with her two youngest siblings, but she has not addressed it publicly. Like Randy and Janet, Rebbie did not attend the premiere, but her son, Austin Brown (Jafaar’s cousin), did walk the red carpet with the rest of the family.
There is no doubt that there is some tension between some of the family members beyond the siblings as well. Paris Jackson, Michael’s daughter, has also been critical of the film. She wasn’t born until after the story ends in the movie, in 1988, so she was never expected to be in it, but that hasn’t stopped her from speaking out about it, saying it is “full of inaccuracies,” but not going into details.
Michael, which has been a hit with audiences, even as critics have reviewed it more negatively, is sure to be a divisive movie given its subject matter (or lack of, in some important ways), and that extends to the family as well.
