Janet Jackson’s weekend call to the authoritieschecking in on the welfare of her son Eissais only the latest news ina splitthat has become increasingly contentious.
The 52-year-old singer called the authorities around 10 p.m. on Saturday, while the 17-month-old child was with his fatherWissam Al Manaat the Nobu hotel in Malibu, California, a spokesperson for the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station told PEOPLE.
“Deputies were there [and] called to the scene. They decided the child was okay and they left,” the spokesperson said.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty
While the split has become heated, that wasn’t always the case.
PEOPLE confirmed that the pair — whoquietly wedin 2012 —split in April 2017, about three months afterJackson gave birth to son Eissa.
Shortly after splitting, Al Mana, 43, updated his website to include a sweet message, praising Jackson as “themost beautiful person in the world.”
“Janet really trusts Wissam and he trusts her,” a Jackson family friend told PEOPLE exclusively at the time. “She and Wissam are working together to co-parent. They have a strong friendship. There is no fighting between them.”
Jackson publicly addressed the news herself in May, while also announcing thecontinuation of her State of the World tour, which had been put on hold during her pregnancy.
“Yes, I separated from my husband,” the singer said in a clip posted to Twitter. “We are in court now and the rest is in God’s hands.”
However, five months after announcing their split, Jackson’s older brotherRandy Jacksonclaimed that his sistersuffered “verbal abuse”and felt like “a prisoner in her own home” during her marriage to Al Mana.
“There’s a lot of pain. Janet’s been through a lot with her divorce. I’ve been through a lot, we all have,” the Jackson 5 star told PEOPLE exclusively, referring to Janet’s ongoing divorce and custody battle.
RELATED VIDEO: Janet Jackson Wants Son Eissa ‘To Have a Mother & a Father’ Amid Divorce Battle, Says Brother Randy
As for what led to the divorce, Randy claimed “it was quite an abusive situation.”
“It came on later in the relationship, verbal abuse and being [made to feel like] a prisoner in her own home. No pregnant woman needs to go through being called a bitch every day. There were things like that. That’s what she went through,” he alleged.
Courtesy ET
In a statement released to PEOPLE, attorneys for Al Mana said, “Mr. Al Mana is not going to dignify these particular and deeply hurtful allegations with a response. The breakdown of his marriage to Janet Jackson is a cause of great sadness to Mr. Al Mana, and it is the well-being and privacy of their son, Eissa, that remains his sole focus.”
TMZ reportedMonday that Jackson told police she was worried the Qatari businessman may have been using drugs around their son. “The concern was that his erratic behavior was tied to that,” a source told PEOPLE. However, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officetold The Blastthere “was zero suspicion of drugs being used,” and that the office was puzzled as to “why Jackson made the allegation.”
The source close to the situation added, “If this is about communication, why’d the cops get told a false story about drugs?”
Jackson was not at the hotel at the time, authorities confirmed to PEOPLE.
The ongoing divorce hasbecome increasingly contentiousas of late, though sources on both sides hope the former couple can put their son first.
A family source previously told PEOPLE Jackson “couldn’t be a better mom. She is very attached to Eissa and feels worried about him when he isn’t with her. Eissa is her life.”
Courtesy Janet Jackson
Meanwhile, the source close to the situation claimed Al Mana is doing “whatever is necessary to be with his son.”
“Wissam has been more than cooperative in terms of visitation, even agreeing to use the same nanny that Janet uses when Eissa is with her, so as to minimize disruption,” the insider explained. “That does mean having someone with him who is on Ms. Jackson’s payroll, which many people would say is less than ideal and certainly complicates matters at times. But he’s willing to do whatever is necessary to be with his son.”
Reps for Jackson and Al Mana did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
