"The Bobby Brown Story," a two-night biopic chronicling the life and career of the controversial R&B singer, kicked off Tuesday with an episode that detailed everything from Brown's often tragic childhood to his struggle with drug addiction.
One early scene recalled the fatal stabbing of his childhood best friend. Another featured an emotional fight between him and his future wife, Whitney Houston, who discovered that Brown had cheated on her just before their 1992 wedding. But the biggest bombshell of all may have been the biopic's claim that Brown had an affair with Janet Jackson.
As "The Bobby Brown Story" tells it, Jackson was already in a relationship with Rene Elizondo Jr. - the dancer turned music video director she secretly wed in 1991 - when she began seeing the "My Prerogative" singer.
In a scene that set Twitter ablaze, Brown (Woody McClain) and Jackson (Cree Davis) shared a steamy romp in a hotel room. Later, while laying together in bed, Brown asked the singer to define their relationship. "I mean, we obviously got feelings for each other," Brown told her. "Are you really about to marry him and just keep me on the side?"
"It's not that simple," Jackson explained. "There are other things to consider, it's just not up to me."
Brown asked if her famous family was influencing her decision, and suggested she didn't want to be with a black man - a claim Jackson denied. "Or at least not a dark-skinned brother," Brown shot back. "But if I were a DeBarge, it would be cool, right?"
"You're funny," Jackson told Brown, who became enraged. "I'm worth $25 million and he's what, a damn backup dancer?" said Brown, prompting Jackson to get up and leave.
Eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that Brown had already discussed his relationship with Jackson - and that infamous hotel room fight - in his 2016 memoir "Every Little Step." And in Brown's own retelling, he actually threw Jackson out of the room while she was still naked - a detail that Page Six previously reported would be in the biopic. As some viewers noted, it was not included in the scene that aired.
Brown also talked about his relationship with Jackson during an appearance last year on Steve Harvey's daytime talk show.
"It was a big heartache for me," Brown told Harvey. "I had a real crush on her. I mean, I was absolutely head over heels for her."
The first part of the biopic - and the second film about Brown's career, following BET's closely watched "New Edition Story" last year - also delved into Brown's relationship with Houston, and the tension caused by Houston's close friendship with Robyn Crawford, a longtime companion who was rumoured to be her lover.
Jackson, meanwhile, hasn't commented on her alleged relationship with Brown, but some saw an opportunity for clarification when she tweeted Wednesday morning that she would be answering fan questions next Friday on Harvey's iHeart Radio Show.
"Already know what the most asked question is going to be," one fan tweeted. "Set the record straight, Janet!"
I know the box was amazing RT @NatoyaEbony: #BobbyBownBET #KingBobby #BobbyBrown
Janet Jackson: You need to be discreet. Quiet. Nobody can know.
Bobby Brown: pic.twitter.com/4uFiBD04h0
— Realtor Stevie J® (@steviejallday) September 6, 2018
Watch "The Bobby Brown Story," trailer below.