Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy
The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004, from Houston, Texas, on the CBS television network, is notable for a moment in which Janet Jackson's right breast and nipple—adorned with a nipple shield—was exposed by Justin Timberlake to the viewing public.
In April 2021, celebrity stylist Wayne Scot Lukas claimed that the incident was planned by Timberlake, who sought to upstage his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears' MTV Video Music Awards appearance at which she kissed Madonna.
[5] Because the event was occurring during an election year, MTV decided that the show's theme would heavily focus on the network's "Choose or Lose" campaign, which encouraged younger viewers to be politically active and register to vote.
"[35] Speaking to Robert Tannenbaum of Blender Magazine, Jackson had strong, if guarded, views on the reactions, reiterating her embarrassment at being exposed but argued that there was no sense in complaining about part of a woman's body while world events as grim as war and disease occurred.
"[19] Comments from Michael Rich, director of Harvard's Center on Media and Child Health; Jay Rosenthal, attorney for the Recording Artists' Coalition; and Simon Renshaw of management group The Firm expressed similar sentiments.
[41] The Boston Legal episode "Let Sales Ring" likened the incident to being used as a distraction, portraying a news corporation which used the mishap to attract attention over other important events in the media.
Faced with lax broadcast standards for cable TV and satellite radio, as well as the absolute lawlessness of the Internet, the FCC becomes hell-bent on preserving common decency in the family-friendly realm of network television...
"[43] Cynthia Fuchs of Popmatters stated, "It behooves TV producers and consumers to focus their attentions on significant "news", rather than the daily distractions offered up by politicians, performers, professional spinners, and journalists.
[66][67] A commercial from Budweiser, which depicted a man opening a beverage on the outfit's breastplate and tearing it before it was worn, was intended to be aired during Super Bowl XXXIX the following year, but was pulled before its broadcast.
[71] Professor Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, stated: "I know many people in other countries are scratching their heads and thinking 'What in the world is the big fuss over there?
[73] On February 4, Terri Carlin, a banker residing in Knoxville, Tennessee, filed a class action lawsuit against Jackson and Timberlake on behalf of "all American citizens who watched the outrageous conduct".
[77] The incident triggered a rash of fines that the FCC levied soon after the Super Bowl, alleging that the context of the "wardrobe malfunction" was intended "to pander, titillate and shock those watching" because it happened within the lyrics within Timberlake's performance of Rock Your Body: "Hurry up 'cause you're taking too long ... gonna have you naked by the end of this song.
[89] On July 21, 2008, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled[90] in favor of CBS, voiding the FCC's fine on the grounds that the enforcement involved a significant deviation from prior practice that was not issued as a clear policy change.
[101] CBS, which also held the rights to Super Bowl XLIV, later aired a commercial during that game featuring then-Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother that discreetly refer to their anti-abortion viewpoints.
[105] Aside from Jackson's exposure, minor controversy was created when rapper Nelly performed his song "Hot in Herre" when a group of female backup dancers all pulled the top-layer of their costumes off, revealing shorter shorts and smaller shirts underneath.
These television shows are known for "love in the afternoon" and regularly depict romantic couplings; shortly before the Super Bowl, the Procter & Gamble soap operas As the World Turns and Guiding Light had gone as far as featuring rear male nudity during sexual scenes.
After the Super Bowl controversy, FCC commissioner Michael J. Copps stated that it was time for a crackdown on inappropriate sexual content in daytime television, and indicated that he was reviewing whether soap operas were violating the agency's indecency prohibitions.
At the Pro Bowl, which would be played on February 8 at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, singer JC Chasez, a member of boy band 'N Sync as was Timberlake, was to sing the National Anthem before the game and perform his hit song "Blowin' Me Up (with Her Love)" at halftime.
Viacom CEO Les Moonves ordered that Janet Jackson's singles and music videos be blacklisted from all of its properties, including CBS, MTV, and its radio station group Infinity Broadcasting.
Subsequent releases "Make Me" peaked atop the Hot Dance Club Songs and top 20 internationally; "Nothing" reached #1 on the digital pop and music video charts, also considered for an Oscar nomination.
[151] In April 2004, Jackson poked fun at herself in an appearance on Saturday Night Live, first while playing Condoleezza Rice in a skit, nervously answering a question by exposing her right breast (which was pixelated by NBC), and again by viewing a mock home video from her childhood in which her bathing suit top came off in a wading pool, calling it a "swimsuit malfunction".
[155] In a 2006 interview with MTV, Timberlake said that compared to the huge backlash Jackson suffered, he himself received only about 10% of the blame; and he accused American society of being both "harsher on women" and "unfairly harsh on ethnic people".
Shannon L. Holland in Women's Studies in Communication argued that the media reaction after the incident focused disproportionately on Jackson, "represent[ing] her as a contemporary Jezebel in that her racial and gendered Otherness was often juxtaposed with the 'normalcy' of Timberlake's white masculinity.
"[164] The New York Times noted "[a]fter her right breast upstaged the Super Bowl, she was criticized by the first lady, vilified by media executives and abandoned by her co-conspirator, Justin Timberlake; less excitable commentators suggested she was merely a shrewd publicity-stunt woman with a new album to promote.
[168][169] Timberlake's halftime show stint, however, received mixed reviews and ratings decline after losing more than 10 million viewers in the United States from the Lady Gaga-headlined edition the year prior.
[175] On the April 10, 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live, Janet Jackson as Condoleezza Rice is told by Darrell Hammond as Vice President Dick Cheney that she should show her breast at the 9/11 hearings.
[195] Gawker ranked the performance among the most recent of the "10 Shows that Advanced Sex on Television", commenting the set "had all the elements of a huge story" and "within seconds the world searched furtively for pictures", concluding "it remains so ubiquitous, it's impossible to look at a starburst nipple shield without thinking "Janet Jackson"".
Almost immediately after the incident, the FCC received a flood of complaints from parents who just wanted their children to enjoy a nice, wholesome three hours of grown men inflicting damaging and long-lasting pain on each other for sport.
Gipson explained "It prompted a million mothers to cover their childrens' [sic] eyes, fathers and sons to jump out of their seats in shock and numerous sanctions by the Federal Communications Commission, including a US$550,000 fine against CBS.
[202] New York City-based production studio Left/Right began developing a documentary on the incident, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, which premiered on November 19, 2021, nine months after Framing Britney Spears.
