Jermaine Dupri has made it clear that fans shouldn’t be expecting a romantic reunion between him and his ex Janet Jackson anytime soon.
HipHopDX caught up with the legendary producer backstage at Lovers & Friends festival last weekend, and asked him the burning question about his rumored rekindled relationship with the “Together Again” singer.
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Bow Wow’s former mentor took part in a word association game of sorts, where he was asked about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Nelly and Ashanti, and JD and Janet — “what do they all have in common?”
Dupri wasted no time with his answer: “Exes.”
When pressed further — “I thought you’d say they all came full circle, 20 years later” — Dupri once again didn’t take the bait. “All exes,” he insisted. “All exes.”
Jermaine Dupri and Janet Jackson first set the rumor mill on fire last month, after reuniting on stage in Atlanta during Jackson’s Together Again tour. Jackson brought out the So So Def boss as a surprise guest to perform “Do It 2 Me,” which got a rise out of fans in the building.
JD played the role of backup dancer and hypeman, providing ad-libs over the 2006 20 Y.O. track that he’s credited with co-writing and co-producing alongside No I.D.
“Make some noise! Y’all wanna hear some new music?” Dupri asked the crowd before Janet previewed an unreleased song.
Jermaine Dupri and Janet Jackson began dating in 2002 and had an on-again, off-again relationship for about seven years. Dupri admitted that he was unfaithful during their time together and acted “reckless” while speaking to A&E for the Janet Jackson documentary in 2022.
“One of the weird things about dating Janet is that dating Janet attracts other women,” he said. “Girls wanted to talk to me more because I was dating her, which was really weird … and uhh, just yanno … I was a man.”
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But Jackson argued it was more than the cheating — Dupri was also obsessed with his work to the point they’d rarely see each other.
“He was a workaholic. He was constantly working,” she said. “I would not see him for like three weeks, a month. And as soon as he would come in, he would go to the club. And it’s like carve out just a little time for me and it was hard for him to do. His girlfriend was his work.”
