Close friends of troubled producer Jermaine Dupri say he’s depressed and despondent over his breakup with pop legend Janet Jackson. His friends asked this blogger to try and understand the reasoning behind Friday night’s emotional outburst that led to death threats.

“Your post hit him where it truly hurts,” said one friend, who asked to remain anonymous. “You hit him in a place where he lays awake at night and can’t sleep because he’s thinking about it.

“How would you feel if the woman you loved blamed you for ruining her career and now she’s dating a billionaire?“

In a recent interview with Atlanta tabloid the Creative Loafing. JD told a writer that rumors of his separation from Janet are mere “assumptions” — despite the fact that Janet has apparently moved on with her life. A friend tried to explain why Dupri seems to be in denial.

“He can’t let go of her. He was really in love and love makes you do crazy, crazy things!,” he said. “People in the industry have been saying that he single handedly messed her [career] up completely. That has been said by everybody,” he added.

Another friend pointed to the fact that JD’s career woes are weighing heavy on his mind.

“He’s been to every label. This is the first time that he’s tried to do this [running a label] on his own. I don’t think he has anybody working for him now,” said the friend. “Now he’s holding marketing meetings online with the fans! He told them to buy ten CDs! You get them to buy one you doing aiight.

“Before, the labels were paying for everything, and nobody’s doing that any more. I think Ludacris is the only one that’s got a good deal [with a major label] now.

The friend said JD will likely make his money back on Dondria’s album sales since he’s independent.

“Everybody’s disrespecting JD right now. I see what he’s doing. He’s just really trying to start over. I see Dondria doing 50,000 in sales in the first month. [Dondria] will put him back on the map.”