Janet Jackson Documentary Sets Premiere Date, Shares New Trailer

A&E and Lifetime have revealed that the first episode in their two-part documentary about Janet Jackson — made in cooperation with the singer herself — will premiere on Jan. 28.

The documentary also shared a new three-minute trailer for Janet, an “intimate, honest, and unfiltered look” at Jackson’s life and career. As Jackson says early in the preview about making the four-hour documentary, “It’s just something that needs to be done.”

✨Happy New Year! It's the moment we've all been waiting for – night one of #JanetJacksonDoc premieres Friday, January 28th at 8/7c.✨@janetjackson @aetv pic.twitter.com/u8HtKs3edO

— Lifetime (@lifetimetv) January 1, 2022

The trailer also reveals many of the artists who were interviewed for the documentary: Missy Elliott, Janelle Monae (who also inducted Janet into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Mariah Carey, Teyana Taylor, Tyler Perry, and many more. “For her to want to open up, I’m flabbergasted,” Q-Tip says of the documentary.

Janet also features exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage from throughout Jackson’s childhood and career, with the documentary taking her back to her hometown of Gary, Indiana to her independence with Rhythm Nation, from her Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction to her close relationship with her late brother Michael, who she simply refers to as “Mike.”

The four-hour Janet, which was “five years in the making,” was executive produced by both Janet and her brother Randy Jackson, and directed by Ben Hirsch. The documentary arrives on what marks the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s 1982 self-titled debut LP.