Janet Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame on Friday, amid ongoing controversy surrounding her brother Michael Jackson and HBO’s Leaving Neverland documentary.
Janelle Monae introduced the Rhythm Nation singer to the stage at the Barclays Center, New York, with the pair going in for a huge hug before Janet beamed away and posed with her award.
The 52-year-old made no mention of her late brother or the allegations against him during her speech, except to mention all of her brothers collectively.
While stars usually perform when they receive the honour, Janet broke tradition, with Variety reporting that she didn’t want to appear further on HBO, which is set to air the ceremony.
However, the rest of the ceremony saw Queen’s Brian May joining Def Leppard for an epic performance, while Harry Styles took to the stage with Stevie Nicks.
It’s the combo we’ve always needed in our lives.
Janet has yet to publicly address HBO’s Leaving Neverland, which focuses on the allegations that Michael molested Wade Robson and James Safechuck when they were children.
Other members of the Jackson clan have been open in their support for the King Of Pop.
Tito Jackson recently dismissed the claims, branding the documentary ‘unfair’.
‘I think that’s so unfair being that there hasn’t been a trial or nothing of the sort,’ he told a TMZ reporter before later adding: ‘It’s kind of crazy and ludicrous to me.’
Jermaine has also hit back at Leaving Neverland, urging people to ‘let the man rest’ and claiming Wade ‘changed his story’.
‘What has happened people don’t know is Wade changed his story that he maintained before and after Michael’s death,’ he said. ‘He tried to go out and shop a book deal, no publisher would touch it.
‘He even sued the estate $1.5 billion (£1.28 billion), it was tossed out of court. He wanted to go for the head choreography part of Cirque du Soleil, he was turned down from that.
‘So what was left for him to do was to do a documentary, so he gets in front of a camera with a bunch of people and spews out all these nonsense statements.’
Meanwhile, Marlon criticised the documentary for ‘not telling the truth’ and during an appearance on CBS This Morning claimed there is ‘no evidence’ that backs up the allegations made against Michael.
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