Janet Jackson has one of the worst summers of her life, or anyone else’s life. Not only did Janet’s beloved brother Michael die in June, but shortly after, she and her boyfriend of seven years Jermaine Dupri split up. Janet also turned 43 years old this year – and In Touch is reporting that Janet seemed to think Jermaine was her best chance at becoming a mother. According to their source, Janet had her eggs frozen when she and Jermaine were together, and she’s heartbroken at the realization that Jermaine has already moved on with another woman:

The summer of 2009 has been particularly rough on Janet Jackson. First, there was the shocking death of her brother Michael in june. Now, her longtime, on-again/off-again boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, has been seen with another woman.

On August 14, the 36-year-old music executive was spotted getting cozy with Deal or No Deal model Claudia Jordan, 36, at the airport in his hometown of Atlanta.

“They looked like a couple,” a fellow passenger on their flight to LA tells In Touch. “During the flight, they were flirty and he seemed very into her. He was making her laugh and smile. There was never a moment when they didn’t talk.”

An insider says that Jermaine “has moved on pretty easily” and that Janet’s hopes of having a baby with him are now dashed. Janet, 43, had hoped to raise a family with Jermaine and recently revealed that her that her doctor encouraged her to freeze her eggs for a future pregnancy.

“I’d love to have children,” she’s said. “It’s just up to Jermaine, what he wants to do.”

Yet as recently as February, Jermaine was dropping honts that his relationship was in trouble. At a party in Beverly Hills, he brushed off a question about marriage and babies saying “That is future thinking.”

According to the insider, even after dating for seven years, Jermaine still wasn’t ready to commit to Janet and wanted to keep playing the field: “He isn’t ready for a family or to settle down.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, September 14 2009]

I do think Janet really loved Jermaine, and I kind of think In Touch is giving him a raw deal. I always got the sense that Jermaine treated Janet like a queen, but that they had problems before Michael’s death. I’m not so sure if Janet even fancied getting married and settling down – she’s so intensely private, so no one really knows. My guess is that she was as gun-shy with the idea of settling down as Jermaine was.

In Touch also reports that Janet is sticking by Michael’s kids, and that she spends a lot of time with them and her mother, Katherine Jackson. Janet wants to give the kids “a sense of normalcy” – and I think Janet is probably the best person for that task.

Yesterday, Page Six reported Janet Jackson will be giving an exclusive, tell-all interview in a cover story for Harper’s Bazaar at some point this fall or winter. It will be Janet’s first interview since Michael’s death. I’m very interested in what Janet has to say.

Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri are shown in the header on 6/30/08. They are also shown below at LaGuardia airport in NY on 3/24/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

Last Friday it was reported thatJanet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri had split after seven years of dating. The timing seemed weird, considering Janet seems to be deep in mourning for her brother, as well as being one of the candidates to take over guardianship of Michael’s children. In US Weekly piece, a source claimed Jermaine Dupri hadn’t attended Michael’s public memorial for two reasons: he and Janet were already pretty much over, and because Jermaine “doesn’t attend funerals”. That struck me as cold on Jermaine’s part, but some disagreed, so whatever. Now Fox News (Pop Tarts) is putting a better spin on the whole split story by making it sound like they’re just “cooling off”. The cause for the “cooling off” was that Janet was bugging Jermaine about having kids. Pop Tarts also has a bunch of quotes from insiders basically saying that it’s not over, and that they still really love each other, and they’ll probably get back together soon:

In the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, why on earth has Janet Jackson’s longtime lover Jermaine Dupri been? Last week reports surfaced that the music masterminds had broken up, however Pop Tarts has learned that there is still a chance for reconciliation between the two.

“Jermaine has decided to take a step back and cool things off but they aren’t totally broken up,” said an insider, adding that keeping his distance from the press and Jackson family is his way of dealing with death and tragedy.

We’re told Jackson and Dupri’s romance turned rocky last September when Janet’s album “Discipline” (produced by her beau) flopped and she was then released from her contract with label Island Def Jam per her request. To make matters worse, at the time Dupri was President of the label’s Urban Music division, although he stepped down in January of this year.

But despite the hiccups, the music moguls worked through it and just a few weeks prior to Michael’s death they even enjoyed a getaway together in Monaco along with Jermaine Jackson and his partner Halima Rashid.

“They will be back together in full force very soon,” said a source.

Janet told Pop Tarts last year that although Dupri was “the one” she had no intention of tying-the-knot.

“In this day and age, I feel we don’t need that piece of paper. For myself I don’t need that to validate what I have with someone,” she said. “It’s about a spiritual commitment and finding your soul mate and not really exchanging vows with one another, that’s enough for me at least.”

Another source close to Dupri said that about a month before MJ died he made the decision to “take a break” as they wanted different things.

“Janet wanted to start a family but that’s not what Jermaine wanted,” said the pal. “But everyone is confident they will work it out.”

A rep for the pair did not respond for comment.

[From Fox News Pop Tarts]

I tend to believe that Janet and Jermaine are cooling off, and that they may get back together, but I’m not sure if I buy that Janet was all about having kids. That being said, I do think Janet would be a great mom, and I hope she takes over guardianship of Michael’s kids. It’s starting to look like that’s what Janet wants too, according to a new report from CBS (story via the National Enquirer):

Reportedly, Janet Jackson has offered to raise the Jacko kids. According to CBS News, the superstar, recently split from Jermaine Dupri, has offered to lift the burden of brother Michael Jackson’s family, Prince Michael I, Paris and Blanket.

‘I’ll step forward and I will raise them if this is what they want,” Janet told a media outlet.

The children are currently staying with MJ’s mom Katherine in the Jackson family home in Encino as dictated by the will.

This weekend the children attended a Jehovah’s Witness services with the family and are adjusting to life in the public eye sans masks.

“They believe that they’re going to see Dad again when he’s awakened from his sleep, that is, when he is resurrected from the dead,” Firpo Carr, Michael’s friend, told CBS.

[From National Enquirer]

I like that Janet said “if this is what they want” – putting the emphasis on the kids’ wants and needs, letting them have a say in who raises them. Can you imagine having a cool aunt like Janet Jackson? I would want to live with her too. So… in a perfect world, would Janet take over custody of the kids, then she and Jermaine would get back together and they would raise the kids like that? That might work.

Janet and Jermaine are shown on 5/5/08 and 2/14/08. Credit: PRPhotos

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

Since canceling several of her tour dates due to a nasty-sounding chronic illness, singer Janet Jackson has been the subject of relentless pregnancy speculation. Now, her boyfriend, music producer Jermaine Dupri, is issuing an emphatic denial regarding the state of his girlfriend’s uterus.

Call off the bump watch: Janet Jackson, 42, is not pregnant.

Reports picked up in the New York Daily News and on PerezHilton.com are not true, Jackson’s boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, 36, tells Usmagazine.com exclusively.

“Does Perez know that lying destroys the credibility of a blogger?” Dupri quipped to Us on Sunday.

Rumors began to swirl after Jackson canceled a string of tour dates in October due to a mystery illness.

Still, that doesn’t mean Jackson and Dupri aren’t excited about starting a family in the future.

“I’d love to have children,” the singer has told Us. “It’s just up to Jermaine, what he wants to do.”

Jackson also spoke about motherhood in an interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine.

“Everyone tells me that there will never be a good time, that I will always be busy, but I just think when the stars are aligned it will happen,” she revealed.

As for Perez Hilton?

The blogger tells Us, “I didn’t say that Janet was pregnant, but if or when she is, I am sure she will make a great mother.”

[From Us Weekly]

That’s an interesting denial from Perez, considering this entry on his website, entitled “Janet Jackson pregnant?” with a picture of Jackson with one of his trademark drawings of a stick figure fetus over her stomach. It’s hard to know what’s going on with Janet – this is a woman who was secretly married and didn’t tell anyone until she filed for divorce! I suppose that if Jackson and Dupri aren’t telling the truth about her pregnancy, we’ll find out soon enough. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that baby bellies have a hard time keeping secrets.

Jackson is shown performing in Madison Square Garden on 11/2/08. Credit: WENN

Janet Jackson has released a YouTube video thanking her fans for their love and support during her recent illness. Jackson was diagnosed with vertigo and migraines that forced her to cancel numerous concerts on her tour. But she’s better now and wants the world to know so she posted the video on boyfriend Jermaine Dupri’s Living the Life YouTube channel.

Dispelling rumors that Janet and Jermaine have split up, the pair playfully pretended to put makeup on Dupri since he was sitting in Janet’s chair, showed off Dupri’s new camera and laughed off the notion that Jackson had kicked him to the curb because he puked on her.

Jackson, 42, also showed her silly side: After pretending to put rouge on Dupri’s cheek as he sat in her makeup chair, she dismissed rumors that the two had split.

“Baby, they say you broke up with me because I threw up on you,” a laughing Dupri said as he held the camera.

“How lame is that?” Jackson deadpanned. “Because you threw up on me … Well, there’s no real love there, is it?”

[From People]

Ah, yes, true love will allow ralphing in your lap, anytime, anywhere. If you can lose your lunch, or in this case your one-too-many Bacardi and cokes, on your partner and they still love you just as much as before, you know you’ve got a keeper!

Janet looks gorgeous as usual, backstage at a concert now that she’s back on the road. If you’ve never had migraines, thank your lucky stars! If you have, I know you feel incredible empathy for Jackson. I can’t even imagine having a migraine with stage lights in my face and music at ungodly decibels coming from all directions. I can’t even handle a slit of light through the drapes or the sound of the furnace kicking on when I have them.

Janet Jackson is shown performing in Atlanta on 10/19/08. Credit: WENN

Either Janet Jackson wasn’t as ill as everyone thought, or her boyfriend is a jerk. That’s what the tabloids are deducing this morning, anyway. While Jackson was being hospitalized for an undisclosed and sudden illness that prompted her to cancel a show in Montreal and two more dates in the U.S., her boyfriend, producer Jermain Dupri, was reportedly out clubbing with rapper T.I.

First, there was the report that he threw up in longtime girlfriend Janet Jackson’s lap during his birthday party at Tenjune.

And while Janet was in the hospital last night, Jermaine was seen out partying. He was spotted at Patrón’s Music in Motion Tour Finale at Marquee nightclub in NYC.

Not only did he stay for T.I.’s performance at 12:30 a.m., but he stuck around while DJ Berrie spun music late into the night.

“He was definitely having fun with his boys,” says an onlooker. “He was one of the last people to leave the event.”

Maybe he didn’t know she was in the hospital, or had spoken to her and knew she was going to be released. Or maybe it was something else. But just to be safe, we’d recommend flowers or jewelry or a hit song, stat.

[From E!Online]

Montreal is about an hour away by plane, and Jermaine is totally loaded, so if it were a real health emergency, he could have been by Janet’s side fairly quickly – that is, if he had been notified. Janet stayed at the hospital for two hours and was released, which indicates that it couldn’t have been anything too serious. Then again, the singer did cancel two East coast dates to recuperate from whatever is making her sick, so who knows? Either way, I’d give Dupri the benefit of the doubt on this one- I’m going to guess that he didn’t know his girlfriend had fallen ill. Otherwise, I’m sure he would have canceled his boy’s night out.

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

Janet Jackson’s longterm boyfriend and producer, Jermaine Dupri, is said to have been so sauced at this 36th birthday party and he couldn’t even hold in the sick until he got to the bathroom. At his party at NY club Tenjune last Tuesday, he leaned right over and puked on Janet’s lap. Janet left right afterwards, and there’s no word how much longer Jermaine lasted that night. He was said to be downing champagne and tequila before he was no longer able to hold it in:

JERMAINE Dupri had a little too much of a good time celebrating his 36th birthday. The other night, Dupri and his squeeze, Janet Jackson, went to Tenjune, where, spies say, they shared bottles of Jay-Z’s Ace of Spades Champagne and Patrón tequila with Ne-Yo, Busta Rhymes and Ice-T – until Dupri “vomited in Janet’s lap. Ms. Jackson bolted out of the scene and sped off in her chauffeured Maybach.” A rep for Jackson and Dupri didn’t return calls. A rep for Tenjune declined to comment. Meanwhile, we hear Dupri is under some stress at work. The head of urban music for Island/Def Jam put out his lady’s last album, “Discipline,” which flopped. Our insider said, “[IDJ head] L.A. Reid had wanted to make changes to the album, make it fresher with some newer artists added in, but Janet said no – and Jermaine backed her up. He looks silly right now.”

[From The NY Post]

Have you ever been with a friend who got sick on someone like that? I once witnessed a woman upchuck directly on the bar, which seemed pretty remarkable to me at the time. How do you make it up to loved one when you puke all over them at an event? Do you bring flowers, a card saying ‘I’m so sorry I ruined your dress’?

If Dupri did do this, he’s got to be mortified now that the news is out. It also sounds mighty stupid for him to be insisting on creative control over Janet’s next album. He left Virgin records over the fact that Janet’s last album with Virgin, 20 Y.O., didn’t do that well on the charts. Janet’s Discipline, out earlier this year through Island, only peaked at 19. It sounds like Dupri is determined to have his way at Island and will drive this one into the ground too.

Here is Janet performing on the “Rock Witchu Tour 2008″ in Chicago on 9/25/08. Credit: PRPhotos. Janet Jackson and Jermain Dupri are shown in the header at his birthday party on 9/23/08. Credit: WENN

Rapper, producer, reality star, Mariah Carey’s BFF, and all-around badass Da Brat (real name Shawntae Harris) has just been sentenced to three years in prison for an attack that occurred at Jermaine Dupri’s Studio 72 nightclub in Atlanta this past Halloween. She hit Shayla Stevens, an Atlanta Falcons cheerleader, in the head with an almost full liquor bottle. Da Brat must also must serve seven years of probation and complete 200 hours of community service.

Harris also must get substance abuse treatment and a mental evaluation and attend anger management classes. “She feels a great deal of remorse for what she did,” said Harris’s lawyer, Thomas Clegg. “She is willing to accept responsibility for what she has done.”

A handful of Harris’s family sat on the back row of the courtroom. They wept when a sheriff’s deputy took her into custody. “I love y’all,” Harris, 34, said as she was led out of the courtroom. “We love you too” the relatives replied in unison.

Dressed in black pants and top with her short hair in braids, Harris did not comment other than to answer “yes” several time when the judge asked her if she understood her guilty plea to a felony aggravated assault charge and her negotiated sentencing.

[From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

As a result of the blow Stevens was knocked down some stairs and landed on a cement floor. She suffered a severe facial cut and will have permanent scars. She was in court but didn’t say anything. Stevens is also suing Da Brat for medical and other costs. Da Brat isn’t just an occasional reality TV star (The Surreal Life and Celebrity Fit Club); she’s also a very well-respected – and highly paid – Grammy nominated producer. I doubt she’ll end up serving all three years, but that is a surprisingly long sentence compared to what some people end up doing for even worse crimes like manslaughter.

Here ‘s Da Brat at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of ‘Tennessee’ on April 26th. Images thanks to WENN.

I really admire when a member of the Jackson family shows some restraint. Unlike her brother Michael, who’s always itching for kids (no not in that way…. okay maybe in that way) Janet Jackson says that even though she’s 41, she’s in no rush to get married and have babies. Janet’s been married twice before. The second time no one even knew about it until she announced she was getting divorced. And though she’s been dating producer Jermaine Dupri for six years, she says they have no plans to get married, despite the pressure everyone’s putting on them.

“So many people were putting pressure on [Jermaine], then they started pressuring me,” the singer told The Insider. “Everybody would ask us about it – even friends. If it’s [meant] to happen, it’ll happen,” she says. “I like where we are, and I’m happy where I am. I’ve done it twice before. I’m afraid I might be a jinx. I might be allergic to marriage.” As for children, she admits: “We both would love to have kids. Someday I know it’s going to happen. Exactly when, I don’t know.”

Even at 41, Jackson is not obsessing about her biological clock.

“I get so much pressure .. even my mother mentioned something to me the other day,” she told Britain’s The Observer on Sunday. “But now you can have your eggs frozen and there are all sorts of things you can do. I’ve still got time so I think I’m okay.” The singer – whose new [CD] Discipline is out on Feb. 26 – added, “I’ve got to get a little more kid out of me first before I move on and be childish with my child.”

[From People]

It’s shockingly healthy to hear a Jackson say that they need to get some of their kid out before they have their own child. You know, instead of trying to relive their childhood in some bizarre Peter Pan complex like Michael’s done. Janet has always seemed like the most normal Jackson to me. She’s her original beautiful color, she hangs out with other adults, and once in a while she flashes a little nip. That’s still better than anything you could ever say about Tito. Oh, and she has yet to name any kids Jermajesty, unlike her brother Jermaine. Considering how trendy babies are right now, I appreciate it when a celebrity says she’s got other things on her plate.

Here’s Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri at Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy party on February 9th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Ahh, Nipplegate. Not something any of us want to revisit. And while most of us have moved past it (except for a few of you sickos – yeah I see you there, watching it on YouTube on a loop) Jermaine Dupri definitely hasn’t – but who can blame him, it was his girlfriend’s nipple that was exposed for all the world to enjoy. Justin Timberlake pretty much bailed on Janet Jackson during the whole thing. Supposedly he thought she’d done it on purpose and felt betrayed. He also famously had a crush on her growing up, and the two were rumored to have dated briefly. Jermaine Dupri thought it was Justin who betrayed Janet, and he hasn’t let the grudge go. He’s just published a book titled, “Young, Rich and Dangerous” in which he says some not-too-flattering things about Timberlake.

JERMAINE Dupri takes some potshots at Justin Timberlake in his new autobiography, “Young, Rich and Dangerous.” Dupri – still furious at the “Sexyback” star for not standing up for his lady Janet Jackson during her Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction,” when Timberlake was onstage with her – writes, “I think Justin Timberlake is a talented performer. But he’s very ordinary-looking. He could be any skinny white kid from the suburbs of Orlando. You could go to the mall and find another Justin. He doesn’t make his style interesting even when he’s onstage. To me, he just doesn’t look like a star.” Timberlake’s rep declined comment. Dupri also reveals his love for the power of Page Six, writing that he tested our influence by having a pal call to report how he paid $300,000 for Cartier earrings. “I wasn’t so sure they would [print it] . . . But they did! People were tripping over it. I got calls from other celebrity magazines, like Us Weekly, which even did their own follow-up story,” Dupri writes. He adds, “I call the kind of fame you can get through the media The Force. That’s sort of like how Anakin became Darth Vader.”

[From Page Six]

Ohhhh, snap! But really, I have to agree. I don’t know what people get all hopped up about regarding Justin Timberlake’s appearance. I think he’s a really talented singer, but I don’t think there’s anything really attractive about him physically. He’s not ugly or anything, but he’s just sort of generic looking to me. Not that Jermaine Dupri is a bowl full of eye candy either. But who would have thought he and I would agree on so much? He also has a good outlook on the media. He understands the power it holds and how it can help careers if you use it wisely. You can also royally mess your life up if you’re famous and piss off some very powerful people… like me. That’s right Britney Spears, you best get it together. Wait, we’re not talking about you for another week. That’s Whitney Bears to you.