Bobby Brown Dated Janet Jackson? And 4 Other Things We Never Knew Before His Biopic https://www.essence.com/e...t-jackson/

Actor Woody McClain reprises his role as Brown in the biopic and his performance is leaving us cheering. And while we’re still trying to piece together our edges after they were snatched during part one, here’s some of the tea that we learned (or may have forgotten).

Brown was in love with Janet Jackson

His ex-wife Whitney Houston wasn’t the first R&B princess that Brown gave his heart to. While the love may not have been mutual, we learned that Janet Jackson first captured his attention. Brown showered her with love and gifts, but the fling turned sour quickly, because she just wasn’t that into him. In The Bobby Brown Story, we learned that Brown believed his darker skin complexion was the reason why the Jackson family would not allow Jackson to be with him. In a rage one night after sex, Brown exploded. In the film, he kicked her out of the hotel room that they shared — naked and all — and slammed the door in her face. That was the end of Brown and Jackson as we know it.

Brown witnessed his childhood best friend get murdered

Brown’s story is certainly one of adversity and perseverance. Growing up in the housing projects of Boston, Brown had to fight for his life literally. One day in a dispute after school, a fist-fight escalated to the fatal stabbing of his best friend.

Robin was the third wheel in his relationship with Whitney

Annette Brown/BET

We all knew Houston’s best friend Robin Crawford lingered in the background as she was the singer’s assistant. And while the former friend, confidant and rumored lover was always in the picture — even after Houston and Brown’s relationship blossomed — we never quite knew the extent. The film depicts Crawford as the cling-on friend, who just didn’t know when to leave even though she was empowered by Houston to stay. It’s no surprise that in his biopic, we see Brown reach his boiling point, engaging in a fall out with his then-wife.

His mother sold drugs

From the looks of things, Brown’s relationship with drugs started way before he met Houston — but not in the way that you may think. Surprising to some, Brown learned the ins and outs of the street life from the matriarch of his home, his own mother. Carole Brown — depicted by actress Sandi McCree — sold drugs to support and take care of her family when they fell on hard times. Brown also recounted in his book Every Little Step: My Story that he was initially unaware his mother sold cocaine to support the family. It was later that Brown would also turn to a life of drugs — both selling and using — when he also fell on hard times.

The men that killed his sister’s fiancé really wanted Bobby dead

By no fault of his own, Brown became a target in his hometown (and even across the country) once he rose to fame. He was the “bad guy” after all. While he and his future brother-in-law were leaving a bar late one night, the biopic showed that the two later became victims of a drive-by shooting. While Brown left the scene unscathed, his sister’s fiancé — who had just expressed and proclaimed his love for his bride-to-be — was not so lucky. Seemingly once again, trouble seemed to follow Brown.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

BlackCat1985 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

No where near as good as the Mew Edition Story.

Yeah, this movie isn't all that it was hyped to be. The NE story was put together better and the actors were more believable.

I haven't had to chance to watch it......in the scenes involving Janet, do they argue about James Debarge or Rene? Because all the reviews that I'm reading are saying its over Debarge (but they were not together in 1989????), and they don't show Bobby throwing Janet out of the hotel room....due to last minute editing. Thanks in advance

[Edited 9/4/18 22:56pm]

[Edited 9/4/18 23:51pm]

Goddess4Real said:

BlackCat1985 said:

Goddess4Real said:

I haven't had to chance to watch it......in the scenes involving Janet, do they argue about James Debarge or Rene? Because all the reviews that I'm reading are saying its over Debarge (but they we not together in 1989????), and they don't show Bobby throwing Janet out of the hotel room....due to last minute editing. Thanks in advance

[Edited 9/4/18 22:56pm]

It's both. Bobby refers to Debarge while saying I guess it's because I'm not a Debarge. But he was mad because she wouldn't leave Rene who was just a back up dancer. They did cut that other scene out. Bobby was so pissed. He wasn't use to being the side piece. He was used to having a side piece.

Thanks well going by the responses on twitter, he is getting the last word now, by slutshaming her..... like I said earlier......if this so-called break-up was true, why on earth did he show up to all her events etc......even after marrying Whitney??

[Edited 9/4/18 23:25pm]

Goddess4Real said:

BlackCat1985 said:

Goddess4Real said: It's both. Bobby refers to Debarge while saying I guess it's because I'm not a Debarge. But he was mad because she wouldn't leave Rene who was just a back up dancer. They did cut that other scene out. Bobby was so pissed. He wasn't use to being the side piece. He was used to having a side piece.

Thanks well going by the responses on twitter, he is getting the last word now, by slutshaming her..... like I said earlier......if this so-called break-up was true, why on earth did he show up to all her events etc......even after marrying Whitney??

[Edited 9/4/18 23:25pm]

I gotta see this (don't have cable) but if I could find a place to wath The New Edition series, I can find this one!

Did not know Bobby seeked out Teddy Riley back in '87. Assumed it was the record label.

I was right in the middle of that whole scene when Bobby was a superstar. It was a LOT left out of this part 1. Bobby whom I last seen perform live a couple of years ago still has it live. Although he can't move like he use to. I love his seasoning products and hot sauce.

I commend him for keeping his affair with the beautiful Janet a secret all this time. They both had their share of conquest,

[Edited 9/5/18 11:14am]

Derek1984 said:

Did not know Bobby seeked out Teddy Riley back in '87. Assumed it was the record label.

I have his book and didn't get to that part. I would be more interested in how his classic came together. Probably very easily!

Cinny said:

Derek1984 said:

Did not know Bobby seeked out Teddy Riley back in '87. Assumed it was the record label.

I have his book and didn't get to that part. I would be more interested in how his classic came together. Probably very easily!

In the movie, Bobby said he wanted a sound with an edge. Something that would hit hard and make you dance. So he knew Teddy Riley was that person who could bring it. Mentions the Keith Sweat album... Which would make sense. I believe Make It Last Forever came out in '87. The label got LA and Babyface and according to the movie, Bobby demanded and ended up getting Riley.

Kind of surprised they didn't film that part where Bobby loses the syringe when he's dancing on stage. Think that happened during a performance on MTV? Somebody will know on here.

Also, I think Bobby had an album ready to go in 1990/91... There's an unreleased song called Tap Into My Heart? He even performed it. Never released. Wonder if the label thought it was weak and waiting until Teddy Riley was done with Dangerous so he could work with Bobby again?

Derek1984 said:

Cinny said:

I have his book and didn't get to that part. I would be more interested in how his classic came together. Probably very easily!

In the movie, Bobby said he wanted a sound with an edge. Something that would hit hard and make you dance. So he knew Teddy Riley was that person who could bring it. Mentions the Keith Sweat album... Which would make sense. I believe Make It Last Forever came out in '87. The label got LA and Babyface and according to the movie, Bobby demanded and ended up getting Riley.

Kind of surprised they didn't film that part where Bobby loses the syringe when he's dancing on stage. Think that happened during a performance on MTV? Somebody will know on here.

Also, I think Bobby had an album ready to go in 1990/91... There's an unreleased song called Tap Into My Heart? He even performed it. Never released. Wonder if the label thought it was weak and waiting until Teddy Riley was done with Dangerous so he could work with Bobby again?

I missed this show last night as we had company over for dinner. I am sure BET will show it again!

You are making me laugh with syringe. It was a baggie!

Derek1984 said:

Cinny said:

I have his book and didn't get to that part. I would be more interested in how his classic came together. Probably very easily!

In the movie, Bobby said he wanted a sound with an edge. Something that would hit hard and make you dance. So he knew Teddy Riley was that person who could bring it. Mentions the Keith Sweat album... Which would make sense. I believe Make It Last Forever came out in '87. The label got LA and Babyface and according to the movie, Bobby demanded and ended up getting Riley.

Kind of surprised they didn't film that part where Bobby loses the syringe when he's dancing on stage. Think that happened during a performance on MTV? Somebody will know on here.

Also, I think Bobby had an album ready to go in 1990/91... There's an unreleased song called Tap Into My Heart? He even performed it. Never released. Wonder if the label thought it was weak and waiting until Teddy Riley was done with Dangerous so he could work with Bobby again?

It wasn't a syringe it was a small bag of coke. That dropped while he was dancing In 1989, during a performance of "On Our Own" that he quickly swooped up. At the MTV Video Awards .

Cinny said:

Derek1984 said:

In the movie, Bobby said he wanted a sound with an edge. Something that would hit hard and make you dance. So he knew Teddy Riley was that person who could bring it. Mentions the Keith Sweat album... Which would make sense. I believe Make It Last Forever came out in '87. The label got LA and Babyface and according to the movie, Bobby demanded and ended up getting Riley.

Kind of surprised they didn't film that part where Bobby loses the syringe when he's dancing on stage. Think that happened during a performance on MTV? Somebody will know on here.

Also, I think Bobby had an album ready to go in 1990/91... There's an unreleased song called Tap Into My Heart? He even performed it. Never released. Wonder if the label thought it was weak and waiting until Teddy Riley was done with Dangerous so he could work with Bobby again?

I missed this show last night as we had company over for dinner. I am sure BET will show it again!

You are making me laugh with syringe. It was a baggie!

LOL Thanks for the correction. I knew it was something!

Janet & Bobby during happier times.

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Janet & Bobby during happier times.

From the pics I have seen (from the Rhythm Nation Listening Party in 1989)......the did look hot together

Cinny said:

Derek1984 said:

In the movie, Bobby said he wanted a sound with an edge. Something that would hit hard and make you dance. So he knew Teddy Riley was that person who could bring it. Mentions the Keith Sweat album... Which would make sense. I believe Make It Last Forever came out in '87. The label got LA and Babyface and according to the movie, Bobby demanded and ended up getting Riley.

Kind of surprised they didn't film that part where Bobby loses the syringe when he's dancing on stage. Think that happened during a performance on MTV? Somebody will know on here.

Also, I think Bobby had an album ready to go in 1990/91... There's an unreleased song called Tap Into My Heart? He even performed it. Never released. Wonder if the label thought it was weak and waiting until Teddy Riley was done with Dangerous so he could work with Bobby again?

I missed this show last night as we had company over for dinner. I am sure BET will show it again!

You are making me laugh with syringe. It was a baggie!

It sure was a baggie When Bobby Brown Dropped His Powda While Preforming Live On Stage

Bobby Brown Reveals He Suffered A Stroke And 4 More Things We Learned From Part 2 Of BET Biopic https://www.essence.com/e...own-story/

If you didn’t think Bobby Brown was a legend before, he will now officially go down in history — for more reasons than one.

Sex, drugs…and R&B.

The explosive second part of the Bobby Brown Story aired tonight, and we (along with the rest of #BlackTwitter) can’t stop talking about.

If you didn’t think Bobby Brown was a legend before, he will now officially go down in history — for more reasons than one. Though we’re sad that it’s ended, we’re still processing everything that has gone down in Brown’s life.

Here were five jaw dropping moments that we learned (or remembered) about Brown from this part two of his BET special.

He caught Houston cheating on him.

Annette Brown/BET

While we know Brown had a strong appetite for other women throughout the course of his marriage — in the first part of the series, we saw he even got another woman pregnant at the same time as Houston — it seems the R&B singer wasn’t the only one who was out creeping. To add insult to injury, Brown even caught Houston in the act of bringing another man into his own home. It’s safe to say, this didn’t end well.

Houston and Brown vowed to get sober after he had a seizure — but it was short lived.

After an all-night drug binge with Houston, things didn’t end so well for Brown. The result? A seizure, which, at the time, Houston’s spokesperson said it resulted from intense heat and a hectic recording schedule for Brown’s new album. Over a decade later, we discovered it was really due to drugs. Though, the most shocking part of it all, was when viewers saw that a drug-affected Houston almost left Brown there to die. It was after that low moment that the tumultuous couple vowed to change their lives.

Brown got clean (the first time) when he was in prison.

It took jail time for Bobby Brown to finally get clean and sober… for a short while at least. When he spent 26 days in a Florida jail in May 2000 for violating probation on a 1996 drunken-driving charge, we relived the moment when he was forced to detox in jail — and it was not easy. Of course the devil (disguised as a white man) tried to get him back on, which we saw played out on TV, but he was able to turn the corner, vowing to commit to a life without drugs, and by trying to get Whitney off of them as well.

Brown reconnected with his daughter Bobbi Kristina just before she died.

Because of the strained relationship between his ex-wife, Brown and his daughter had a complicated relationship, starting in her teenage years. After the death of Houston, Bobbi Kristina finally had an opportunity to connect with her dad, even wanting him to help her with her musical career. In fact, the film claims that when Brown got word she was in the hospital, his daughter was supposed to be on her way to Los Angeles to record in the studio with her pop.

Alicia-Etheredge Brown (his current wife) helped Bobby turn the corner.

Brown’s relationship with his manager turned wife Alicia was different from the start. Starkly different than women he had dated in the past, Alicia had a no-nonsense attitude when it came to drugs, alcohol, and Brown’s whilin’ out in general. The couple recently stopped by ESSENCE’s Yes, Girl! podcast, where they spoke to editors Cori Murray and Charli Penn about their marriage, sharing that faith is at the center of their relationship. “You can’t do anything without God. You can’t wake up in the morning, you can’t go to sleep,” Brown said. “And, if you’re going to sleep with the right person, then you’re going to wake up in the right frame of mind and God’s light.”

Ya'll see Lil' Cassius at the end? That boy is gonna be a talent to be reckoned with, when he gets older!

SoulAlive said:

Janet was messing around with Bobby Brown? I thought she was with Rene during that period

Rene didn't put a ring on it until 1991. From what I understand, Bobby's adoration was rather one-sided.

I have set my DVR to record Bobby Brown Story tonight.

Cinny said:

SoulAlive said:

Janet was messing around with Bobby Brown? I thought she was with Rene during that period

Rene didn't put a ring on it until 1991. From what I understand, Bobby's adoration was rather one-sided.

I have set my DVR to record Bobby Brown Story tonight.

True! Because Rene' was calling into Virgin Records in 93 addressing himself for business as Janet's husband WAY before the public knew about it.

[Edited 9/6/18 15:16pm]

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Cinny said:

Rene didn't put a ring on it until 1991. From what I understand, Bobby's adoration was rather one-sided.

I have set my DVR to record Bobby Brown Story tonight.

True! Because Rene' was calling into Virgin Records in 93 addressing himself for business as Janet's husband WAY before the public knew about it.

There is a clip from Video Soul (I think) going around right now of Bobby saying he loved Janet but it is 1989 and the host is like "and how does she feel about you?" and he has to just basically reiterate that he is hot but it is obvious it isn't quite reciprocated.

Same one where he says he wants to sell more copies than Janet... that's how they get on the topic.

Cinny said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

True! Because Rene' was calling into Virgin Records in 93 addressing himself for business as Janet's husband WAY before the public knew about it.

There is a clip from Video Soul (I think) going around right now of Bobby saying he loved Janet but it is 1989 and the host is like "and how does she feel about you?" and he has to just basically reiterate that he is hot but it is obvious it isn't quite reciprocated.

Same one where he says he wants to sell more copies than Janet... that's how they get on the topic.

I actually saw that when it originally aired. Bobby had a crush on Janet since "Good TImes" and I don't blame him on that. I did also.

I keep reading that this is really more about the journey between him and his true love and current wife her name escapes me right now. I'll catch the second half this weekend

onlyforaminute said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

onlyforaminute said:

I keep reading that this is really more about the journey between him and his true love and current wife her name escapes me right now. I'll catch the second half this weekend

Thw film is about %15 about the music. I wish it was more about the music like the NE Story. That one is 10x's better.

Yupp that is how I felt.....there not enough music about the Bobby album, which IMO is way better than Don't Be Cruel. Plus, I was really distracted by the wigs they gave both the Janet and Whitney characters to wear Come on now......with so much material available out there on what they were wearing in the 80s and 90s etc, there was no excuse for being so sloppy. Was this an accurate account of Bobby's life? to quote Whitney "Hell To The NO!" I give The Bobby Brown Story a 2 out of 5 sure it was an entertaing trainwreak, and Woody McClain was great given the material he had to work with. However, I felt that the story was disjointed (it really needed to be a 3 part series), I didn't like the way they made Whitney into a one dimentional character, while painting Alicia “Do I look like Whitney to you?" Brown (who was basically a stalker from day 1) as a patient saint. And for some reason they would not show how Bobby piling on the the weight in the later years of his life or a scene of him having sex with a ghost (since they showed him having sex with with practically everyone else) Finally, why didn't they highlight his later work on the classic reality the series he made with Carnie Wilson and Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch) called Outsider's Inn (2008) talk about a hot mess that was

This was my fav comment from twitter about The Bobby Brown Story

Ernest Owens‏Verified account @MrErnestOwens Sep 5

Not much about the music in part two. I hated the second half. Boo hoo, a bunch of problems brought on by his own negligence, or normal stuff like parents passing (snore).

BlackCat1985 said:

Goddess4Real said:

CAPTION: Superstars Janet Jackson and Eddie Murphy help Bobby Brown celebrate the sale of 5 copies of Don't Be Cruel. Dated 14/01/1990 (Ebony)

Lol! At Eddie's expression. It looks like he was joking around with them. According to Bobby Eddie was also trying to get with Janet once he found out Whitney wasn't the woman he thought she was.

Howard Stern asked Charlie Murphy about Eddie & Whitney during an interview. According to Charlie, Whitney's cigarette-smoking turned Eddie off.

uPtoWnNY said:

BlackCat1985 said:

Goddess4Real said: Lol! At Eddie's expression. It looks like he was joking around with them. According to Bobby Eddie was also trying to get with Janet once he found out Whitney wasn't the woman he thought she was.

Howard Stern asked Charlie Murphy about Eddie & Whitney during an interview. According to Charlie, Whitney's cigarette-smoking turned Eddie off.

Maybe that's why Eddie stood Whitney up. Whitney said they had a date and Eddie didn't show up.