Janet Jackson hasn't exactly always been an open book when it comes to interviews. But that's where her new book comes in.
No one would accuse her of being a chatterbox, but in between chatting about her new self-help book (so you can stop mistaking it for a memoir) and abusive childhood on the Today show this morning, she revealed more details about her close relationship with her brother Michael Jackson, how she continues to deal with the fallout of his death, and what, exactly, she thinks about Dr. Conrad Murray.
"We shared every dream, every confidence," she said of "Mike," to whom she dedicated True You. "I was his little sister and he always knew that I had his back...Later on in life, certain things that he was going through, I tried to be there for him as much as I could.
"I was his little sister who was there who had his back. To go toe-to-toe. We were very close, we did everything together. We shared a lot of things."
Which made the pain of suddenly losing him two summers ago all the more acute.
"There's still not a day that goes by that I don't think about him," she told Meredith Vieira. "Not one day. Not one day."
However, though she wrote in the book that she remained unable to watch the documentary This Is It, she said that she has since sat down for a viewing.
"I finally was able to...I was in Paris and I just spent the night just watching all his videos, listening to his music. There were moments when I felt to cry, moments that make me laugh. It was good for me."
Of course, the final chapter of Michael Jackson's has not yet been fully written, and while Janet didn't want to—and in some instances, can't—discuss the still-pending involuntary manslaughter trial of Murray, she doesn't mince her words when it comes to how she and her family feel about the doctor charged with ending Jackson's life.
"Do you still feel as strongly about his culpability now as you did then?" Vieira asked, referencing her vocal declaration in the wake of Michael's death that Murray was responsible for his passing.
"Mmm-hmm," she nodded. "And that's all I'm going to say. I do. I really do."
"That's tough, though, sitting in the courtroom," she said of her and her family's noted insistence on attending every pretrial hearing. However, she said that it was important they remain united and present, no matter how difficult it was, is, and will continue to be.
"It's my brother, it's my blood," she said. "He's no longer here because of...X, Y and Z. I think it's important to every family who's lost someone. You know, you want to see justice."
At least Janet can take some solace in knowing that her final exchange with Michael was love-filled. She last saw her brother just "two days before my birthday."
"The last thing we said to one another, I said 'I love you,' he said, 'I love you too, Dunk.'
"My nickname. Dunk. Dunky fried chicken. It makes no sense," she laughed. "Michael was always silly like that."