What is with all of the splits of supposedly strong couples lately? It’s getting weird in here. The latest long-standing couple to call it quits is Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri. They’ve been together for seven years! Is that right? That would mean they got together sometime in 2002. I guess they have been together for a while… and I just didn’t realize it because Janet always keeps her private business private. Sidenote: This is also why she’d be a great guardian for Michael Jackson’s kids. Anyway, the only reason we know about Janet and Jermaine’s split is because his friends are talking. Thankfully those friends aren’t talking trash – they say that Janet and Jermaine simply split because they’ve been “moving in different directions for a while.”
On July 7, Michael Jackson’s family gathered to celebrate him at his much-watched memorial service.
Noticeably absent? Janet Jackson’s longtime music-exec boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri. (A pal says Dupri skipped the memorial because he “doesn’t attend funerals.”)
And for good reason. “His friends are telling people it’s over,” a source tells Us Weekly.
Echoes another: “They have been moving in different directions for a while.”
So what drove Jackson, 43, and Dupri, 36, apart after nearly seven years? “You shouldn’t mix business with pleasure,” a mutual pal explains. (Dupri produced several tracks on her last two CDs.) “Janet felt their lives were too crossed and they should have kept things separate.”
Plus, the polar opposites were never too compatible. “Jermaine likes to be out there, mingling with everybody, and Janet’s more shy.” (And secretive: She kept her nine-year marriage to Rene Elizondo hidden until their 2000 divorce.)
Meanwhile, Jackson is still deeply mourning the death of her big brother.
“She’s devastated,” an insider says. “She’s busy caring for Michael’s kids. Janet’s the family’s backbone.”
Jackson’s rep couldn’t be reached.
[From US Weekly]
I get that maybe Janet and Jermaine were having problems before Michael died, but it still seems rough to deal with a relationship ending, while you’re in the process of grieving your brother. I could be totally off-base on that though – it’s perfectly possible, even likely, that Janet did the dumping. If my boyfriend wouldn’t attend my brother’s funeral just because “he doesn’t attend funerals”, I might see that as one of those big, blaring signals that the guy’s not in it for the long haul. That being said, seven years is a long time in Hollywood, so I give them credit for that. Maybe they broke up and really will remain friends. Maybe Janet’s priorities shifted radically in a very short time now that she might be a contender to be Michael’s kids’ guardian.
Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri are shown at the John Paul Gaultier Haute Couture runway show in Paris on 7/2/08 Credit: ANG/Fame Pictures
