Tyler Perry reveals why Janet Jackson did not return for ‘Why Did I Get Married Again?’

Tyler Perry has revealed that Janet Jackson initially agreed to return for Why Did I Get Married Again? but ultimately could not revisit a franchise closely tied to the painful period when her brother Michael Jackson died.

Speaking at a special Netflix screening of Why Did I Get Married Again?, at the historic Harmony Gold Theatre in Los Angeles, Perry addressed questions about Jackson’s absence from the latest instalment.

Perry said when he decided to bring the franchise back, he contacted the original cast and was adamant he would only proceed if everyone was willing to return.

“I called everybody and said, ‘I’ll only do it if everybody does it,’ and everybody was in. Talked to Janet. Janet was like, ‘Ok, let’s go.’ Everybody’s in,” he said.

“She read the script. She loved the script. And then she’s like, ‘But I’m on my residency.’ I said, ‘Well, I got a window here. This is the only window I have.’ She said, ‘Well, I’m here’.”

Perry said Jackson changed her mind and told him she was unsure whether she could emotionally revisit the period of her life associated with filming the previous movie.

“Then she also said to me, [and] this was something that I thought was really powerful, she said, ‘I don’t know if I could revisit that period again.’ And I didn’t think about it at the time, but this is when Michael died,” Perry said.

“The last movie was when Michael died, and we rallied around her to make sure that she was safe and had this moment.”

Jackson played successful psychologist and author Patricia Agnew in the first two Why Did I Get Married? films.

The first film was released in 2007, while its sequel, Why Did I Get Married Too? was filmed in 2009.

It was during the production of the sequel that Jackson experienced the death of her brother, pop superstar Michael, who died in Los Angeles on June 25 2009 at the age of 50.

Janet had reportedly been filming the movie for only a few days when he died. Production was temporarily halted, allowing her to leave the set and be with her family.

She later returned to complete the film, and finishing her work by August 2009.

Jackson’s character also had an emotionally demanding storyline in the sequel.