What Janet Jackson's 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Says About 20-Year-Old America

Nearly 100 million people watched two of the world's hottest pop stars engage in a sexy tango of sorts, neither of which indicated they were seconds away from enshrining themselves in national infamy. Justin Timberlake was the final appearance of Janet Jackson's 11-minute Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show on February 1, 2004. For the next 72 seconds, he chased her around the stage while singing her hit song from 2002 "Rock Your Body". Then came the finale: As Timberlake sang the final line – “I bet I'll have you naked by the end of this song” – he reached up with his left hand and ripped the right cup off Jackson's bustier. There it was: Jackson's breast, including a jeweled nipple. It's been 20 years since this "wardrobe malfunction" gave rise to what we would call "Nipplegate." The glimpse of Jackson's chest during the most-watched television event of the year immediately turned into outrage over indecency and simmered for nearly a decade. It has changed the way we watch television and use the Internet. And as Super Bowl LVIII approaches, the moment takes on renewed importance amid renewed debates over where another female pop star — Taylor Swift — is getting attention in the traditionally male-dominated space of the NFL football. who saw her bare chest in a rumpled suit reveal that transformed her from the personification of sexual empowerment into a global avatar of indecency and inadvertently changed the way we consume media forever,” wrote journalist Sarah Ditum in her new book “Toxic: Women, Fame”. , and the tabloids of the 2000s." In the book, Ditum reports that Timberlake was called into Jackson's dressing room for a last-minute conference before the halftime show. But even 20 years later, no one has ever revealed what was discussed at the meeting. Then it was time for an MTV-produced halftime show that starred Jackson and featured P. Diddy, Nelly, Kid Rock and Timberlake. It seemed to be going perfectly until the last second of the show when, unlike his smooth, rehearsed movements thus far, Timberlake reached in with the left cup of Jackson's bustier and ripped it off. Television crews almost immediately cut to a long shot showing fireworks exploding behind the sage. “Something seems to be going wrong,” Ditum told the Washington Post. "Janet looks horrified as her chest is exposed." “It’s a shocking moment,” she added. Ditum said that as a Brit, she did not understand at the time the importance of the Super Bowl in American culture. Once she realized that tens of millions of people from different generations, political leanings, and socioeconomic backgrounds were tuning in to watch the same thing at the same time, she realized that "it was definitely a high-stakes thing for this audience. the fallout came quickly. When asked what happened during an interview immediately after the show, Timberlake said, "We like to give you all something to talk about."

All data comes from the source: http://washingtonpost.com
Article link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/02/11/nipplegate-super-bowl-20-years/

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