Janet Jackson Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction: What Really Happened?
Take a trip down memory lane to remember what really happened.
No one remembers much about the four quarters of action that went down on the gridiron when Super Bowl XXXVIII took place on Feb. 1, 2004. In fact, most people probably can't recall who won that game (the New England Patriots) or who they beat and by how much (they triumphed over the Carolina Panthers, 32-29). Even more obscured over the years is the fact that Jessica Simpson actually kicked off that year's halftime show. But there's one part of the event that seems burned into everyone's brains.
The biggest moment of the night was when Justin Timberlake ripped the top of Janet Jackson’s black bodice and, for a fraction of a second, revealed Jackson’s bare breast, covered only by a nipple shield. Jackson spokesman Stephen Huvane would later call the incident "a malfunction of the wardrobe; it was not intentional... He was supposed to pull away the bustier and leave the red-lace bra.” And a controversy was born.
“The million-dollar question that I had the whole time was, like, What exactly happened?” says Jodie Gomes, director of the new FX/Hulu documentary, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson. As Gomes told Vanity Fair, “Only three people know exactly what took place... At the end of the day, I think three people will take that to their grave.”
Salli Frattini, a former senior vice president at MTV (which produced that year's halftime show for airer CBS), felt betrayed. “I was a wreck, personally, and I pretty much just lost it. I was in tears. People were crying. It was really upsetting. It’s very emotional. I felt betrayed,” Frattini has recalled about the incident. “My instincts told me that there was a private conversation between wardrobe, stylist and artist where someone thought this would be a good idea, and it backfired.”
Meanwhile, Jackson would later say in a statement, “The whole thing went wrong in the end. The 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—including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL."
The consequences were swift and far-reaching. CBS was fined over half a million dollars for the incident. The Chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell (Colin Powell’s son), said years later, "I think we've been removed from this long enough for me to tell you that I had to put my best version of outrage on that I could put on. Part of it was surreal, right?"
But that wasn’t all. Several ongoing TV shows changed their plots that involved even mildly sexual storylines, while that year's Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was outright canceled—and YouTube was born. That’s right: YouTube co-founder Jawed Kawim has said that the Super bowl incident was one of two major events in 2004 that sparked his interest in creating a video-sharing platform. Some in Congress even tried to change the law to increase the amount that broadcasters could be fined for such events.
As for Jackson, CBS/Viacom's head exec at the time, Les Moonves (who would later step down from that post after being accused of sexual misconduct in 2018) punished her severely. First, she was uninvited from that year's Grammys. "Ms. Jackson and Mr. Timberlake were invited to participate in the show as long as they agreed to apologize on the air for what happened during the network's broadcast of the Super Bowl halftime show. Ms. Jackson declined the invitation. Mr. Timberlake accepted,” said a CBS statement. Next, Moonves ordered Jackson's music to be removed from company-owned stations and directed both MTV and VH1 to take her videos out of rotation. In contrast, Timberlake went on to have a great career.
The event that became known around water coolers as “Nipplegate” sent shockwaves throughout the country. With Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, debuting Friday, Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on FX and Hulu, offering a deep dive into the events of the event, read more to find out what exactly happened before, during and after Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," how Jackson is faring today and what the documentary may reveal.
Who performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004?
Many people don’t remember that Texas native Simpson kicked off the show alongside a slew of local marching bands (the 2004 Super Bowl was held in Houston). P. Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock also performed before Jackson sang three songs. The show was produced by MTV that year and their “Choose or Lose” voting campaign was the focal point of the show. In fact, Timberlake wasn’t even supposed to be there. He was revealed as a “special guest.”
What happened at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show?
When Timberlake took to the stage with Janet to sing his hit “Rock Your Body,” the performance seemed to go fine until the last line: "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” As Timberlake ripped away Jackson's bodice and her breast was exposed, the network quickly cut away to an aerial shot.
What did Justin Timberlake do at the Super Bowl?
Frattini says Timberlake apologized immediately, allegedly telling others that the malfunction "never meant to happen." She's also said he was "very apologetic," adding, "He manned up.” Jackson, meanwhile, was said to have fled the scene and didn’t take calls.
However, to the public, Timberlake didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation. ”Hey man, we love giving you all something to talk about,” Timberlake initially said right after the game. As the situation became more serious, however, his tone changed.
He later said that Jackson and her choreographer wanted a costume reveal. "Now I was under the impression of what was going to be revealed was a red brassiere, a bustier, forgive me," he then said about the “wardrobe malfunction.”
"All I could say was, 'Oh, my God. Oh, my God,'" Timberlake said at a Grammys event. "I looked at her. They brought a towel up on stage. They covered her up. I was completely embarrassed and just walked off the stage as quickly as I could. I'm frustrated at the whole situation. I'm frustrated that my character is being questioned.And the fact of the matter is, you know, I've had a good year, a really good year, especially with my music." Timberlake also drove to Moonves’ office to apologize personally and apologized during the Grammy Awards as well.
Was the Super Bowl wardrobe function on purpose?
Both Timberlake and Jackson maintain that the incident was an accident. Timberlake was supposed to remove only the black bustier, revealing the red lace bra underneath. However, he seemingly removed both layers unintentionally.
Did Justin apologize to Janet?
Jackson and Timberlake had known each other for years before the Super Bowl incident. Jackson had always been supportive of Timberlake, selecting his (new at the time) band *NSYNC to join her on part of her Velvet Rope World Tour in 1998.
Jackson herself told Oprah Winfrey in 2006 that Timberlake had reached out to her, but that she hadn’t called back. She regretted apologizing in the first place since it was an accident. “All the emphasis was put on me, not Justin... certain things you just don’t do to friends,” she said. Jackson added that she felt Timberlake had left her hanging, to some degree.
Timberlake would revisit the incident many times, with varying attempts at a sincere apology. “In my honest opinion now... I could've handled it better,” Timberlake said to MTV in 2006. “I probably got 10 percent of the blame, and that says something about society. I think that America's harsher on women… And I think that America is, you know, unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”
In 2009, he gave it another attempt. “I wish I had supported Janet more. I am not sorry I apologized, but I wish I had been there more for Janet,” he said in an interview.
Before headlining the Super Bowl (solo) in 2018, he claimed to have made peace with her. “I had my wires crossed and it’s just something that you have to look back on and go like, okay, well you know, you can’t change what’s happened but you can move forward and learn from it,” Timberlake said.
Related: Who is Janet Jackson’s Son? Meet the Light of Her Life, Eissa Al Mana
He apologized yet again in 2021. "I am deeply sorry for the time in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right," he said in an Instagram post on Feb. 12. "I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism." He continued, "I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed," he continued, "I also feel compelled to respond, in part, because everyone involved deserves better and most importantly, because this is a larger conversation that I wholeheartedly want to be part of and grow from."
Why did Justin apologize to Janet?
For years, fans have wanted Timberlake to give Jackson an apology for allowing her to take the heat from the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. As Janet's brother Tito Jackson says in a documentary, “Janet's breast didn't just jump out." Meanwhile, director Gomes says that in the documentary, “I didn’t want to put words in [Timberlake's] mouth. I felt like it was best to let him speak for himself so that people can understand it’s not just the director saying, ‘Hey, he’s a bad guy.’ It’s not just the fans saying it. It’s what came out of his own mouth.”
In fact, some even claim that it was Timberlake himself who instigated the event. Celebrity stylist Wayne Scot Lukas has claimed that Timberlake had been looking for a stunt that would overshadow the kiss between his ex, Britney Spears, and Madonna at the Video Music Awards that had taken place months earlier.
“He wanted a reveal,” Lukas told Page Six in 2021. The original plan, according to Lukas, was that “Janet was going to be in a Rocha dress, and [Justin] was going to step on the back of her dress to reveal her butt in this pearl G-string.”
As for the idea that it was a “wardrobe malfunction,” Lukas said, "It was the most functioning wardrobe in history. As a stylist, it did what it was intended to do." In fact, at least one person has claimed that Lukas purchased Jackson's nipple shield himself. “At the end of it, while we were talking, he [Lukas] was like, ‘OK, watch the halftime show. There’s going to be a surprise at the end,’” says the owner of the shop where the shield was purchased.
What happened to Janet Jackson?
After being blacklisted by Moonves, sales of her 2004 album Damita Jo languished. Jackson slowly rebuilt her career, and her last album, Unbreakable, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2015. In February 2020, Jackson announced the Black Diamond World Tour, which would support an upcoming Black Diamond album. Unfortunately, COVID-19 caused the tour and album to be scrapped.
She was named as part of the 2019 class to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, just two months after Moonves stepped down from his position at CBS/Viacom—and about a decade after she was first eligible for the honor. However, she declined to perform at the ceremony, supposedly because the broadcast of the event would be shown on HBO, which at the time had been involved in Leaving Neverland, a documentary accusing her brother Michael Jackson of sexual assault.
Personally, she married Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana. She had a son in January 2017, Eissa Al Mana, and four months later announced she was getting a divorce. In January 2022, Jackson will get to tell her own version of the Super Bowl events, as part of her new documentary Janet, which will air on the A&E and Lifetime networks. She will also be releasing a new album.
Did Justin Timberlake get paid for the Super Bowl?
No, but that’s because performers are not paid to do the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
How can you watch Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson?
Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson is available to watch and stream on Hulu.
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