Jermaine Dupri Admits He Was ‘Reckless’ In Janet Jackson Romance, She Heard He Cheated

The two started dating back in 2002, following her divorce from second husband René Elizondo Jr. In part four of her “Janet Jackson” documentary, which aired over the weekend, Dupri said the two met following a concert of hers in Atlanta and the sparks were instant.

“We got to go to her dressing room and we spoke. I wasn’t famous, but I did say when I left, you’ll see me again. That was basically the beginning of us dating,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘What? This is happening.’ We just felt like we had to be around each other.”

Janet, in her own confessional, called her ex “a really good guy” who thankfully “was never addicted to anything,” following drug issues with some of her other past loves. “I really thought that was gonna be it for me,” she said of their relationship.

The two were together throughout the backlash Janet endured following the Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction” as well, with Jermaine saying during the doc he was pissed some people thought it was all an orchestrated PR move on Jackson’s behalf. “She doesn’t need to do anything for press,” he said — adding that he also resigned from his position on the Grammy board when she was disinvited from the ceremony that year.

“I was happy. Jermaine’s a really good guy with a really good heart. I wanted to have a family with him. He asked me to marry him and I had said yes,” recalled Janet.

“I dated her longer than her marriages, so I have a different relationship with her than damn near probably anybody,” he added. “But we hadn’t defined the level of living together. I still was here in Atlanta, she was still in L.A., so there were still a lot of things that needed to happen I believe before a person could start having babies.”

When asked why the relationship ended, Jermaine replied, “Probably just me being reckless,” with a laugh. She was asked the same question and laughed as well as she said, “I had heard that he was cheating.”

“One of the weird things about dating Janet is that dating Janet attracts other women,” said Jermaine, not outright saying he cheated but not exactly denying it either. “Girls wanted to talk to me more because I was dating her, which was really weird. And I was a man.”

Jackson said that wasn’t the only issue in their relationship though.

“I needed more than what he was giving me. He was a workaholic and he was constantly working. I wouldn’t see him for like three weeks, a month and as soon as he would come it, he’d go to the club,” she recalled. “I’d be like, just carve out a little bit of time for me, even if it’s just hanging out at home. And it was hard for him to do. I would always tell him I never felt he had enough time for a girlfriend, his girlfriend was his work and he used to hate to hear me say that, but it was.”

Looking back, Dupri has some regrets over how it all ended — and seemed to think they’d still be together now if he had put in a little more work.

“I’m a non-confrontational person, I’m always like that. I usually just walk away from it,” he said. “I’m sure I could have fought much harder and it would have been something that would have never gone away.”

The two split in 2009 and Janet went on to marry Wissam Al Mana in 2012. She and Al Mana welcomed son Eissa in 2017, before the duo split later that year.