At the 2009 BET awards last night on June 28,2009, Janet Jackson spoke publicly for the first time about Michael since his death at the end of the show. She said, “My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was too painful.”

She then said she would make her comments brief,and continued, saying, “To you, Michael is an icon.To us, Michael is family. He will forever live in all of our hearts. On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much. Thank you so much.” After she spoke, she teared up. Then Jamie Fox and Ne-Yo performed one of the Jackson 5′s biggest hit songs “I’ll Be There”.

R&B superstar Ne-Yo said, “I feel good, man. It’s a sad day for music, but I’ve been telling people we should be celebrating his life, not mourning his death.” MTV posted a short video (below) of Janet Jackson at the BET Awards.

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