'There's no such thing as beating a kid': Joe Jackson speaks out about physically disciplining his children...and how a fan informed him of Michael's death

He's been plagued by stories and rumours about the strict upbringing of his nine children for most of his life.
But Joe Jackson has now admitted to physically disciplining son Michael and the rest of his family, claiming that he doesn't regret 'being tough.'
Speaking during Piers Morgan Tonight, which aired on Wednesday, the Jackson patriarch also claimed that he doesn't believe that there's any such thing as beating a child but that they 'will remember' being punished.

'I'm glad I was tough': Joe Jackson speaks about about physically disciplining his children when they were young on Piers Morgan Tonight

Although many of his children have spoken out about what they claim to have been an emotionally and physically abusive upbringing, Joe believes that he did right by his children.
'I'm glad I was tough, because look what I came out with. I came out with some kids that everybody loved all over the world. And they treated everybody right,' he told the Piers.

 

'There's no such thing as beating a kid. You whip them or punish them over something they did and they will remember that,' he said when questioned by the British host.
'I had to be like that way because during those times, it was hard, and you have a lot of gangs there, you know, in the area where we were living,' he added.

'No such thing as beating a child': Joe admits that his parenting skills made sure that his children were prepared for later life

Informed by a fan: Joe admits that it was a fan who informed him of Michael's death, not a family member

Discussing his late son, Michael, who had spoken about his strict upbringing, he said:
'You know, Michael, he was a nice guy. ... The world (doesn't) know anything too much about Michael as far as how he was brought up. But he was brought up. I made sure that he respected the older people.'
Addressing Janet Jackson's claims that she wasn't allowed to call Joe 'Dad' at any point during her childood, he said: 'You had all those kids running hollering around. They're hollering, 'Dad, Dad, Dad,' you know, and it gets to be - it sounds kind of funny to me.