Strict upbringing still affects Janet

LONDON - Singer Janet Jackson, who did not dare call her father “dad” when she was a kid, admits she is still scared of her authoritative father Joseph.

Joseph Jackson was a strict parent. His most famous son Michael often spoke candidly about the beatings and whippings he suffered at his hands.

The Jackson patriarch banned his children from referring to him as “dad”, ordering them instead to call him by his first name.

“I would see my friends interact with their dad and I would think, that’s what I want to do. I want to be able to call him ‘dad’. He said, ‘That’s my name, you call me Joseph. You don’t call me dad,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

“I tried once. He said, ‘I’m Joseph to you. You do not call me dad.’ That affects you as a kid; it still affects me as you can see. I know my father loves me. He just has a very, very different way of showing it.”