Latoya Jackson in Playboy Magazine

In March 1989, her first cover and layout was one of the most successful issues in Playboy's history

In 1980, LaToya Jackson ventured into modeling. She stated that it was her own decision to pose nude for Playboy. However, according to several later interviews Jackson maintains that the 'playboy' incident was not her idea and what she did (and the things she stated in her book) was under the control and threat of violence from her then husband, Jack Gordon. She explains further that her apparent willingness to pose nude was part of her then-husband's plan to sexually exploit her for millions of dollars. She said she complied out of fear and this was not something she would have done otherwise.

In March 1989, her first cover and layout was one of the most successful issues in Playboy's history. At its time of release, it sold over 8 million copies, going on to become the best selling issue of the magazine ever. She posed again in Playboy in 1991 to promote her autobiography and subsequently in a 1994 video for the magazine, becoming one of the first celebrities to have a Playboy video aired. It was later revealed that Jackson initially refused to pose for the second spread and for the video, however, Gordon beat her into submission.

After marrying Gordon in September 1989, Jackson distanced herself from certain members of her family, although she claims to have spoken with several of her siblings during this period. Her 1991 autobiography La Toya: Growing up in the Jackson Family was probably the main reason for this estrangement, as it made scathing criticisms of several family members, including the allegation that her father abused members of the family, notably herself and sister Rebbie. Rebbie Jackson denied these claims, while other members of the family hypothesised that part of the book had, in fact, been written by Gordon.

In 1993, Jackson, at a press conference overseas, declared that she believed rumors that her brother Michael had sexually abused children. She later stated in an interview that her accusations at this time were delivered under threat of violence from her then husband. She has claimed that these accusations would not have been made by her had she not been under threat. Furthermore, the initial accusations of child molestation surfaced that year, prompting members of the family to refute the charges, claiming that Jackson was "controlled and used" by Gordon — Jackson's father wrote about Gordon's control in his book The Jacksons. Two years later, she made headlines again for announcing the so-called "Jackson Family Secret Phone Number Line". In 1996, however, Jackson walked out on Gordon after he attempted to force her to dance at a strip club in Cleveland, Ohio. The former Jehovah's Witness (she left the faith in 1987) refused to do so and in return, was booed and heckled by the predominantly male crowd.

In 1997, she ended her estrangement with the entire Jackson family and returned home to Hayvenhurst. That year, she divorced Gordon. Jackson has no children and currently resides in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

La Toya was one of the first siblings present at Reagan-UCLA Medical Center on June 25, 2009 after her brother Michael Jackson was pronounced dead after suffering cardiac arrest.