Michael 🍣 #FreeWendy

Janet Jackson says Justin Timberlake was only supposed to rip off the outer layer of her costume at the 2004 Super Bowl. He ripped off more and exposed her breast on live TV. More than 500,000 people complained to the FCC. CBS was fined $550,000. His career kept going. It was February 1, 2004, in Houston. The last line of the song he was singing was "gonna have you naked by the end of this song." She says they rehearsed it, and that the plan was to leave a red layer showing underneath. She says more came off than was supposed to. A day later she apologized on camera. She says her management told her to, and that she asked them what she was apologizing for, since it was an accident. CBS and MTV reportedly blacklisted her. The NFL was reportedly asked to refund $10 million to the halftime sponsor. Her next album, Damita Jo, sold about 1 million copies, far fewer than her last two. In 2018 Timberlake headlined a Super Bowl halftime show of his own. Two years after the show she told Oprah it was the first and last time she would talk about it. She said all the emphasis was put on her, not on him. She said that to a degree, yes, he left her hanging. By then Timberlake had said he probably got 10% of the blame. He also said America is harsher on women, and harsher on ethnic people. He says he got 10% of the blame. She took the other 90%. Was Janet Jackson punished for an accident, or did she walk into a stunt that always had a price?