Janet Jackson’s Surprise Appearance on The View
The Queen of Pop pops into The View — unannounced
As the ladies of ABC’s The View began their third segment, moderator and host Whoopi Goldberg said, “Every now and again, this thing happens where we think we’re doing one thing and something happens…”
That was the end of that phony lead-in. “Escapade” starts blaring over the studio speakers, the lights change, and no one seems to know what is happening. Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin, and Joy Behar look as confused as the audience. It almost feels like a hype moment. A hype moment occurs before the show and during commercial breaks when an audience hype person keeps the crowd pumped up and in a good mood. Often times, music is played, and the audience is encouraged to dance and have fun. It keeps the audience engaged and their energy level high. But this wasn’t that kind of hype. No, this was something much, much more.
She appears. Janet Jackson glides onto The View set, wearing a long black fuzzy coat, a black turtle neck, leather pants, and heeled boots. The hosts and audience share their unequivocal excitement for Ms. Jackson. Janet’s makeup is fresh and dewy with a nude base with pink highlights, and a peachy glossed lip. Her hair is still braided into a ponytail as it was on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
“WE LOVE YOU JANET!” calls ring out from the audience amidst cheers and applause. Hostin’s visible joy is palpable, while Behar and McCain are stunned and smiling. Everyone is standing, captivated by Janet’s very presence. It’s obvious, still, that Janet Jackson can command a crowd’s attention by just appearing.
Goldberg hushes the audience because if she didn’t, they probably wouldn’t have stopped their praise of Jackson. Janet says, “I was on the way to the studio to finish the album, and I was in the car talking with my assistant, talking about you. She said how you [Goldberg] wanted to come to the last tour and couldn’t make it.” Goldberg was in the hospital in the spring of 2019 with pneumonia and sepsis. Her conditions kept her from The View for weeks, and almost took her life. “So, I said, why don’t we stop by and give you tickets to the show?” Goldberg’s overjoyed at Janet’s offer. But if we know anything about Jackson, she loves a surprise. We also know Goldberg saw this coming. Janet also gave away tickets to her 2008 Rock Witchu Tour on Ellen. (That tour supported her Discipline album.)
Looking toward the audience, Janet coyly asks, “If you guys all want to come…” They erupt in shouts of joy, accepting Janet’s invitation. Janet promised tickets to the audience of The View for her upcoming Black Diamond World Tour 2020. Goldberg confirms that everyone gets a ticket to the show.
In a later segment with actor and comedian Nick Kroll, as they are seconds away from cutting to commercial, says, “I have tickets for everyone in the audience to Janet Jackson…”
“We’ll be right back,” Goldberg says. The moment is gone, but the joy will resonate for a long while.
Janet appeared on Ryan Seacrest’s On Air on KIIS-FM this morning.
The Black Diamond World Tour 2020 begins June 24, 2020, in Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena. Pre-sale tickets are available now with general tickets to the public go on sale on February 13, 2020, from Ticketmaster. No release date has been announced for Black Diamond, yet.
Ernest Sewell was born & raised in Oklahoma. After living across the U.S. in places like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, he’s settled in upstate New York for the past twenty years. He’s authored and published two books and is working on a smattering of new material, including a new horror novel. He shares his home with a friend, three cats, and his vinyl collection, all of whom have the same level of love from him. When he’s not causing an uproar on Prince forums or social media, he enjoys reads (a lot), trying new recipes, and prank calling people.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.”
