{"id":39325,"date":"2021-11-02T19:40:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T19:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=39325"},"modified":"2022-01-31T15:24:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T15:24:11","slug":"janet-jackson-super-bowl-wardrobe-malfunction","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/janet-jackson-super-bowl-wardrobe-malfunction\/","title":{"rendered":"Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and That Infamous Super Bowl \u201cWardrobe Malfunction\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_39356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39356\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-39356\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-2920783-e1635881277136.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson onstage during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show\" width=\"1024\" height=\"579\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson onstage during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show (Photo: Frank Micelotta\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nipplegate. Janetgate. The \u201cwardrobe malfunction\u201d that shook the entertainment world\u2014and introduced the term \u201cwardrobe malfunction\u201d into the popular lexicon. What happened onstage during the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show lives in infamy and had far reaching affects for at least one of the people involved. On November 19, FX and Hulu will premiere <em>The<\/em> <em>New York Times<\/em>\u2019 latest documentary, <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/malfunction-janet-jackson-justin-timberlake\/\"><em>Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson<\/em><\/a>, which will explore \u201cthe racial and cultural currents that collided on the Super Bowl stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The doc promises rare behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with executives from the NFL and MTV\u2014the network produced the 2004 halftime show\u2014that will hopefully shed new light on what really happened when <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/justin-timberlake-jessica-biel-second-child-name\/\">Justin Timberlake<\/a> ripped part of <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/janet-jacksons-documentary\/\">Janet Jackson<\/a>\u2019s bustier off, exposing her nipple live on network television. Even 17 years later, it\u2019s still unclear what <em>actually <\/em>happened, or what exactly went wrong. What we know from watching footage of the performance is this: Jackson, having just finished performing her 1989 hit \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OAwaNWGLM0c\" target=\"_blank\">Rhythm Nation<\/a>,\u201d was joined onstage by Timberlake. The pair performed Timberlake\u2019s \u201cRock Your Body.\u201d At the climax of the show, just as he delivered the lyric \u201cGotta have you naked by the end of this song,\u201d Timberlake reaches across Jackson and rips away the right cup of her rubber <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/alexander-mcqueen-anenomes-fw21-pics\/\">Alexander McQueen<\/a> bustier, exposing her right breast.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SUPER BOWL 38 (XXXVIII) 2004 HALFTIME SHOW FULL - JANET JACKSON, JESSICA SIMPSON, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rmBQrJNVzw0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Jackson\u2019s team later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/46762\/first-look-the-news-in-brief-february-3-2004\" target=\"_blank\">claimed<\/a> that Timberlake was meant to pull away only the rubber part of the costume, revealing a red lace bra underneath. In a statement, MTV <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtv.com\/news\/1484738\/janet-justin-mtv-apologize-for-super-bowl-flash\/\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> the incident \u201cunrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and &#8230; inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance.\u201d And Jackson issued an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtv.com\/news\/1484766\/janet-apologizes-says-super-bowl-stunt-went-too-far\/\" target=\"_blank\">apology<\/a> the following day, seeming to absolve MTV of responsibility for the incident: \u201cThe decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended\u2014including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amanda Ann Klein, author of <em>Millennials Killed the Video Star: MTV\u2019s Transition to Reality Programming<\/em>, is skeptical of the idea that MTV wouldn\u2019t have known about the reveal. \u201cThere was nothing, I think, casual about Nipplegate,\u201d she told me recently, comparing the incident, which aired on CBS, to one that happened a few years prior at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, when Diana Ross jiggled Lil Kim\u2019s pastie covered breast onstage. \u201cIt\u2019s so interesting, this expectation of something scandalous, something shocking [on MTV]. And then when they tried to do it at the national level, a much bigger stage than MTV normally has, it just totally backfired,\u201d Klein mused. \u201cBecause <em>of course<\/em> they were involved in that. <em>Of course<\/em> Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson and MTV talked about this icky moment!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speculation aside, what is unquestionable is the affect the scandal had on Jackson\u2019s career. The media coverage, public backlash and $550,000 FCC fine lead then Viacom CEO Les Moonves\u2014who stepped down in 2018 amid accusations of sexual harassment and assault\u2014to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/les-moonves-janet-jackson-career_n_5b919b8ce4b0511db3e0a269\" target=\"_blank\">blacklist<\/a> the singer\u2019s work from all of the company\u2019s networks and radio stations, which included MTV. Her invitation to appear at the 2004 Grammy Awards was initially withdrawn and she was fired from a biopic in which she was cast to play singer Lena Horne. The controversy dominated coverage of her 2004 album <em>Damita Jo<\/em>, and the Viacom blacklisting affected several subsequent <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/revisiting-janet-jackson-album-janet\/\">albums<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39357\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39357\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-39357\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-92059657-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson onstage during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show\" width=\"1024\" height=\"706\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39357\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson onstage during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show (Photo: J. Shearer\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The incident also had far-reaching consequences for broadcast television. Networks reassessed how far they were willing to go with sexually suggestive content as a result of the FCC\u2019s fine against CBS, while other sporting events and awards shows retooled their own performances and half-time shows. As for MTV, according to Klein, the network\u2019s mid-aughts reality show <em>Laguna Beach<\/em> was banned from filming in its stars\u2019 high schools thanks to the backlash. \u201cIt had this trickle-down effect,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Timberlake, meanwhile, came out of Nipplegate largely unscathed, his career and reputation intact. He even went on to headline the 2018 Super Bowl halftime show. It hasn\u2019t been until recently that we, as a culture, have begun to reevaluate the double standard applied to Timberlake and Jackson in the wake of their infamous Super Bowl appearance. Even before another recent FX\/New York Times doc, <a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/director-framing-britney-spears-speaks\/\"><em>Framing Britney Spears<\/em><\/a>, revisited the role Timberlake played in coloring the media coverage of his break-up with Spears in the early 2000s, there was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/02\/podcasts\/still-processing-were-still-here-for-janet.html\" target=\"_blank\">growing sense<\/a> within the media that he had gotten off too easily when it came to Nipplegate. The fact that a Black woman bore the lion\u2019s share of the blame and consequences while a white man got off seemingly scot-free continues to rankle. Timberlake issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CLMxYbGhTno\/\" target=\"_blank\">apology<\/a> to both Jackson and Spears after <em>Framing Britney Spears<\/em> aired.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Jackson was inducted into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame. In her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qIWdYOVvpg0\" target=\"_blank\">acceptance speech<\/a> she spoke about her determination to impact popular culture on her own terms and urged the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame to induct more women. To fans, it felt like a moment of triumph that was years in the making. Perhaps <em>Malfunction<\/em> will similarly provide long overdue vindication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":39356,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,38,3292,16],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.5 (Yoast SEO v20.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and That Infamous Super Bowl \u201cWardrobe Malfunction\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nipplegate. Janetgate. The \u201cwardrobe malfunction\u201d that shook the entertainment world. 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