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Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson

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Back in 2004, we all became acquainted with the term “wardrobe malfunction” when Justin Timberlake pulled off a piece of Janet Jackson’s top during their Super Bowl halftime performance, revealing her bare breast.

The incident became one of the most talked about news stories of the year, Jackson and Timberlake issued public apologies and the FCC tried to fine the broadcaster, CBS, for indecency. Jackson also endured career setbacks; she was barred from attending that year’s Grammy Awards, and her music was temporarily banned from MTV and certain radio stations in the aftermath of what happened.

But in hindsight, that Super Bowl’s MVP Tom Brady, who won the game for the New England Patriots as they faced off against the Carolina Panthers, says that overall, the halftime controversy was a “good thing for the NFL.” Discussing the incident on his podcast, Let’s Go, Brady explained that he was too busy focusing on the game to pay attention to the halftime show in the moment, saying, “We came off the field and that was when we had the wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. And they were asking me about that.”

He added, “I couldn’t even understand what they were telling me about. It took a while for us to figure out exactly what had gone on.”

“I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL,” Brady followed up. “Because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows.”

He then added, “Is any publicity bad publicity?”

While he probably has a point that halftime shows have only grown in spectacle and have helped raise the profile of the Super Bowl in the 19 years since “nipplegate,” Jackson may not agree with his comments about it being good publicity.

The situation, and the fallout for Jackson’s career, was the subject of the recent documentary Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, which is available on Hulu as part of the New York Times Presents documentary series.