In 1991, just days before Michael Jackson was set to premiere his highly anticipated music video Black or White, a controversy erupted that no one expected—especially not from within the Jackson family. Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s older brother and former Jackson 5 bandmate, found himself at the center of a media storm when a scathing diss track, “Word to the Badd!!,” leaked to radio stations. The song, filled with biting lyrics that many saw as a direct attack on Michael, exposed a long-simmering family feud to the public eye.

“Once you were made, you changed your shade. Was your color wrong?” Jermaine sings in the unreleased version, a line interpreted as criticizing Michael’s changing skin tone and physical appearance. Other lines slammed Michael for his plastic surgeries and alleged detachment from his roots. “Reconstructed, been abducted, don’t know who you are,” Jermaine intoned, portraying Michael as a “lonely superstar.”

The song’s leak couldn’t have come at a worse time. Michael was preparing for the premiere of Black or White, a video produced at massive cost and promoted with a surreal teaser directed by David Lynch. But rather than celebrating the visual spectacle, headlines focused on the family drama. Jermaine’s diss track and Michael’s video were played back-to-back on radio stations, with some DJs claiming Jermaine’s song was receiving a stronger response than Michael’s.

Though Jermaine’s album You Said was officially released without the diss version, the damage was done. The leaked tape captured the original, unfiltered lyrics, and fans quickly connected the dots.

Speculation arose: was the leak orchestrated as a publicity stunt? Jermaine denied the theory in a live interview with The Today Show. “If this was a publicity stunt, I would have called my album Word to the Badd and stood by it,” he insisted. “I wrote the song from my heart, out of frustration. I couldn’t get to Michael, so I put it into a song.”

Jermaine clarified that he did not intend for the track to become public. “It leaked out. It’s out there, and I’ve got to deal with it,” he said. He admitted he had felt angry and hurt due to a breakdown in communication with Michael, which had left him feeling distant and concerned. “He wasn’t returning my calls. But it wasn’t just him—it was the people around him.”

Critics and media pundits pointed to a history of friction between the brothers. Jermaine famously split from the Jackson 5 in 1975 to remain with Motown Records when the group left for Epic. He was married at the time to Hazel Gordy, daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Some speculated that jealousy over Michael’s explosive solo success had lingered for years. Jermaine dismissed this notion. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “We were the Jackson 5. Every song Michael sang on, I sang on too. We built this together.”

The drama was further fueled by Jermaine and La Toya’s public disputes. La Toya had previously accused Jermaine of being jealous of Michael, a claim he vehemently denied. “Who in our family hasn’t had success?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s not about jealousy. It’s about family.”

Despite the public fallout, Jermaine said the brothers had since reconciled. “We’ve spoken since all this happened, and we’re fine now,” he said. “I told him, Michael, we have to talk. I love you. We’re family. That will always be there.”

The leak of Word to the Badd!! remains one of the most dramatic public flare-ups in the Jackson family’s storied history. But in Jermaine’s view, the song wasn’t meant to destroy—it was a cry for connection. “It was a healing process,” he said, “a message about family and needing to communicate.”

Even as the Jacksons continued to dominate headlines and charts, the incident proved that fame doesn’t shield one from pain—and that even the most glamorous families have struggles behind closed doors.