Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- Janet Jackson would bang her head against a wall because she felt `` so unattractive , '' the pop star told CNN 's Piers Morgan . Jackson , in an interview Tuesday on CNN 's `` Piers Morgan Tonight '' talked about her struggles with weight and body image over the years , her relationship with her father and dealing with the passing of her brother Michael . `` There was a time when I was so down and felt so unattractive and it lasted for a very , very long time , '' Jackson said , `` that I used to -- I used to bang my head against the wall . '' The banging would be hard and `` the person that I was with , my ex-husband at the time , I mean , he 'd have to stop me , '' she said . Jackson , 44 , is promoting her new book , `` True You , '' which focuses on her lifelong self-image and self-esteem struggles . She did talk about her most famous brother , Michael Jackson , calling him `` very sweet , very gentle , incredibly smart , always about love . '' `` He knew who he was , '' she said . Morgan also talked to her about Joe Jackson , the father known for using stern discipline to keep his large family on a path toward entertainment stardom . The one time she called him `` Dad , '' he corrected her . `` You call me Joseph , '' she said her father told her . `` I 'm Joseph to you . '' Jackson said she felt sad when she was younger that her relationship with her father was not closer , but it is a feeling that has passed . `` It would have been nice , '' she said . `` I would go over to a friend 's house when mother would let me go , and I 'd see my friends , the relationship with their father , how they call him dad and sit all in their lap . '' Janet Jackson sat near her father in court for several days last month when her family attended the preliminary hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray , who is charged in Michael Jackson 's death . Watch Piers Morgan Tonight weeknights 9 p.m . ET . For the latest from Piers Morgan click here .
Her former husband would have to accept her head injury , she said . Her father tells her , ` ` I ' m Joseph to you , '' she says . Jackson is writing a self - help book , ` ` True You ''