Janet Jackson says she can't watch TV

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. recording artist Janet Jackson says she hasn't been able to watch television in the weeks since her brother Michael's sudden death at the age of 50.

"It will drive you crazy," Usmagazine.com quoted Jackson as telling Harper's Bazaar for its October issue. "People can have rhinoceros skin but there's a point when something's going to hurt you. Not everyone is stone, stone. I haven't watched the news in weeks. I had to ask my chef, 'How's Obama doing?' I haven't read a newspaper. On top of that, (we've lost) a family member. ... It's really hard to believe he's passed."

The singer and actress said concentrating on her career has helped her deal with her grief.

"I've been doing OK," she told the magazine. "Work helps focus all of that energy on something that is of value to you."

Michael Jackson died June 25. His death has been declared a homicide after lethal levels of the anesthesia propofol were found in his system. Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the drug to Jackson, is under investigation but no charges have been brought against him.