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Janet on Michael: 'He Loved to Laugh'

He had a big heart and bigger sense of humor

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 9, 2009 4:11 PM CDT

(Newser) – Janet Jackson opens up about her late brother in next month’s Harper’s Bazaar. Though she speaks to her own troubles—“people can have rhinoceros skin, but there's a point when something's going to hurt you”—and the family—“people said to me that Michael's daughter speaking really gave them a sense of how he was as a father”—the focus is mostly on the small pleasures of the King of Pop. “He loved to laugh," she says, noting he was a fan of the Three Stooges.

“The last time we were together, he'd laugh so hard, he would just start crying,” Janet says. “He loved to have fun. He loved to play.” She fondly remembers their childhood, when “we'd wake up, feed the animals, spend the entire day together.” But his legacy as a performer escapes even her. “It's on so many different levels. Bringing light and love and happiness,” she says. “People have told me, 'I am an American citizen because of your brother.'”

[Images (3)]

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Janet Jackson comforts the daughter of Michael Jackson, Paris. (AP Photo)

Michael Jackson in 2005. (AP Photo)

Janet Jackson in June. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

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You know something else? He loved to wear his shoes all the way down. His penny loafers would have huge holes in the bottom. - Janet Jackson, on her brother

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Janet on Michael: 'He Loved to Laugh'