James DeBarge Confirms Possible Child With Janet Jackson

“Nasty” singer Janet Jackson never publicly commented on rumors she gave birth to a secret child in the 1980s, but James DeBarge, the man who apparently fathered the baby, tried to confirm her existence.

Photo: Getty Images 

DeBarge wanted Jackson to come clean about the rumored pregnancy.

“I don’t think you can pull the wool over the public’s eye on this one,” DeBarge, who was married to Jackson from 1984-85, told Radar Online in an exclusive interview Thursday. 

“I’m talking about there being a baby.” He added: “It’s been a question that’s been raised a long time ago all the way up to now.”

DeBarge’s proclamation comes after Tiffany Whyte, 31, told Radar Online she was the singer’s secret daughter.

He agreed to take a paternity test last month. “I don’t like speculating,” he said. “I went over this a million times in my head.”

DeBarge isn’t the only one who wants closure. Whyte wanted acknowledgement from her supposed mother. 

“[Janet] has been denying me for many years,” Whyte told Radar Online Tuesday. “I waited 31 years.”

After being given up for adoption in 1985, Whyte grew up in the state foster care system. “I don't want to get famous off of this. Trust me, I don't,” Whyte told Radar. “I just want my mother. I want my father.”

While it might seem like a ploy for money, Whyte said she just wants to know Jackson. “I've been kept a secret a very long time,” Whyte said. “I want people to know the truth.”

READ: Janet Jackson Welcomes Son At 50, But Is That Normal?

But neither Whyte nor DeBarge are a part of Jackson’s life anymore. In fact, she just welcomed a son, Eissa, with her husband, Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana, Jan. 3.

The singer maintained Eissa is her first child. “She has hired help at home and her husband been with her through it all. It was a difficult pregnancy, but she is very blessed and has a healthy baby,” an insider told E! 

Online last month. “A select few have seen her baby. She is so excited to be a mom.”

"Nasty" singer Janet Jackson, pictured May 24, 2012 in Cap D'Antibes, France, never acknowledged supposed secret daughter Tiffany Whyte, but her ex-husband, James DeBarge, is slated to take a DNA test.