In a recent online hoax, the internet attempted to dupe fans with a photograph supposedly showcasing pop icons Janet Jackson and Madonna chilling in Rio together.
An X user, @QueenofPopMUSIC, posted a picture that went viral. Her caption, “BREAKING: Janet Jackson is in Brazil with Madonna for the Rio special concert of #TheCelebrationTour.”
Diehard followers of the “Funny How Time Flies” chart-topper were quick to debunk the deception, citing the longstanding animosity between the two stars.
“This would never happen! They have beef that will never thaw,” one person tweeted.
Dedicated social media detectives uncovered the truth behind the fabricated image. They revealed that Ms. Jackson had been digitally inserted into the snapshot, confirming the suspicions from the Rhythm Nation that the picture was fake.
X users discovered the original image was taken in Milan, Italy, in 2023 by photographer Jacopo Raule. The “Material Girl” was dressed in black fur and leather at Hotel Palazzo Parigi last November when she was spotted by paparazzi.
“This picture is Madonna in Milan last autumn for fashion week. Janet is photoshopped, poorly, into the photo,” one person wrote, blasting the fake picture.
BREAKING 🚨: Janet Jackson is in Brazil with Madonna for the Rio special concert of #TheCelebrationTour pic.twitter.com/SVnYT8KYIQ
— 𝐌 (@QueenofPopMUSlC) April 30, 2024
Outside of how badly Janet was superimposed on the photograph, fans found other reasons to detect it was a fraud.
“No one would ever wear this much in Rio.. try again,” a tweet read.
“Yeah right,” an X user wrote. “Wearing ‘fur’ in Rio… yeah… also, my cat would photoshop janet in the pic better that this.”
Even though Madonna briefly dated Janet’s megastar brother, Michael, in the early ’90s, the two songstresses never saw eye to eye.
In fact, according to Jermaine Jackson’s book “You Are Not Alone: Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes,” the “Papa Don’t Preach” singer shared some critiques of Janet with her “Thriller” boyfriend, and he immediately felt a way.
“They were at dinner one night, and she had the temerity to criticize Janet,” Jermaine wrote.
Jermaine said that Michael backed away from Madonna, showing that his loyalty was to his sister.
While it is not known if MJ told his sister what the Detroit native said, she once said that she did not hate Madonna, but she had “valid reasons” to.
The media picked up on the tension and constantly asked each one about the other.
By the early 2000s, it seemed that the two may have put their issues to bed. When Janet received backlash from her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show performance where her breast was exposed due to a costume malfunction, Madonna came to her defense and said the press should have better things to write about or report.
“There is a lot of hypocrisy about beating up on Janet Jackson,” she said to CNN about her nipple gate happening during a prime time when families were watching. “There are a lot of other things that children have access to.”
Eight years later, Madonna headlined the Super Bowl halftime show and it seemed that the singer took down whatever white flag she might have waved.
“You don’t have to show nipples to be interesting. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re cutting-edge if you do, right?” Madonna said in an interview ahead of her own Super Bowl performance.
Even with the petty jabs back and forth, in 2023, when Madonna fell ill, Janet reached out and wished her a speedy recovery, according to The Mirror.
“Janet heard Madonna was unwell, so they reached out. They haven’t always seen eye to eye but they respect each other as they are two of the last megastars from their generation of music,” the publication said, quoting an unnamed insider.
Adding, “Janet can relate to the pressures of touring.”
Both ladies have enjoyed wildly mind-blowing success as singers, and while they may or may not like each other, there is someone who doesn’t like either one of them.
In his recently released memoir, “Karma: My Autobiography,” Boy George of the ’80s group Culture Club said both of the ladies were not on his good list.
“When it comes to me and Janet, let’s wait a while,” the “Karma Chameleon” singer wrote, according to People.
He talked about meeting her on the set of Solid Gold and said, “She wasn’t friendly and didn’t try to be. But I just walked off and got myself into my best ‘Boy George’ and was walking around backstage to make sure I was seen by everyone.”
Later in the day, the British singer stated that someone from her team had approached him to get a comment on tape for Janet. He said, “Next time you meet someone, be nice.”
The remark was relayed to Janet, who invited him to her dressing room, where she explained she didn’t recognize him.
“Are you saying you would have been nice to me if you knew who I was?’
At the same time, he also blasted Madonna, saying she was “too full of herself.”
“Every gay man loves Madonna, and there’s no one gayer than me,” he wrote in his memoir.
“Madonna is everything it says on the tin, but she adds new ingredients every day,” the singer writes.
He added, “I know for a fact she’s too full of herself to even mention me. She once said, ‘Boy George was mean to me in the ’80s, and he’s still mean.’ To be fair, I haven’t really been given the opportunity.”
