Everything about Wardrobe Malfunction totally explained
Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was broadcast
live on
February 1,
2004 from
Houston, Texas on the
CBS television network in the
United States, was noted for a
controversial halftime show in which
Janet Jackson's bare breast was exposed by
Justin Timberlake in what was referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction". The incident, sometimes referred to as
Nipplegate, was widely discussed. It, along with the rest of the halftime show, led to an immediate crackdown and widespread debate on perceived "indecency" in broadcasting as well as an increase of FCC fines per indecency violation from $27,500 to $325,000. Additionally, the halftime show was seen by some as a sign of decreasing morality in the national culture.
Among several other acts, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed a medley of their songs "
All for You" and "
Rhythm Nation" by Jackson and "
Rock Your Body" by Timberlake during the halftime show. The performance featured many suggestive dance moves by both singers, and as the song reached the final line, "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song," Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's costume, revealing her right
breast (adorned with a large, sun-shaped
nipple shield, a piece of jewelry worn to accentuate the appearance of a
nipple piercing). Besides Jackson's exposure, the show featured numerous
dancers, alongside rappers
Sean "Diddy" Combs (who was nicknamed "P. Diddy" at the time) and
Nelly, who were grabbing their
crotches,
In the immediate aftermath, the CBS broadcast cut to an aerial view of the stadium, but was unable to do so before the picture was sent to millions of viewers' televisions. Many considered this
indecent exposure, as a record-breaking 200,000 Americans contacted the FCC within the weeks following the show to complain, saying it was inappropriate in the context of a
football game.
The halftime show was produced by
MTV and aired on the CBS television network. At the time, both MTV and CBS were owned by the media group
Viacom (as of
January 2006, the companies have been split into separate entities, CBS became self-owned, however MTV became part of the new
Viacom group spun off from the old Viacom, now known as
CBS Corporation. Both companies are still owned by
National Amusements). The controversy prompted tighter control of live television and radio broadcasts in the United States by station owners in fear of high fines that could be levied by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Following the incident, the NFL announced that
MTV, who also produced the halftime show for
Super Bowl XXXV, would never be involved in another halftime show.
Public reaction
United States
In the
United States, the exposure of Jackson's breast led to much media controversy and headlines. Conservative media watchdog group
Parents Television Council issued a statement that same day condemning the halftime show, announcing that their members would file indecency complaints with the FCC and the council supported the FCC's decision to investigate the halftime show immediately. In addition, the FCC received nearly 540,000 complaints from Americans, Many parents also expressed their disappointment towards the Super Bowl, claiming that they expected it to be a family-friendly event but instead had to be subjected to the sexually charged content. The
columnists L. Brent Bozell III Timberlake even told
KCBS-TV a few days following the Super Bowl that his own family was offended by the Super Bowl mishap. A
Time magazine poll in 2005 revealed that 66% of Americans believed that the FCC "overreacted" to the halftime show.
The Super Bowl controversy was also a subject of comedy all across the late-night television shows, with the hosts generally joking about the hypocrisies they perceived in certain public reactions of the show, comparing Jackson's breast with everyday, inoffensive objects, and taking certain ideas out of context. For example, CBS's own
Late Show with David Letterman mocked the incident all week following the Super Bowl. Host
Letterman jokingly commentated on the controversy the day after the Super Bowl that he "was happy to see this thing happen...because that meant for one night I wasn't the biggest
boob on
CBS." The next day, he also joked that President
George W. Bush formed a "
Department of Wardrobe Security" to prevent further "wardrobe malfunctions" like this. On
February 4, Letterman opened his monologue by joking about having a "
wardrobe malfunction". Additionally, the
"Top Ten Lists" featured on the program on
February 4 and
February 6 briefly referenced the incident.
In an advertisement for the
February 7,
2004 episode of
Saturday Night Live, host
Megan Mullally explains that she'll get the episode's musical guest,
Clay Aiken, "naked by the end of this promo". She proceeds to rip a piece of Aiken's shirt off, revealing a similar nipple shield, and she begins rubbing against Aiken in a sexually suggestive manner. Aiken replies, shocked, "that was NOT supposed to happen".
South Park took aim at the hysteria in its eighth season premiere, "
Good Times With Weapons", on
March 17,
2004, when
Eric Cartman sneaked across a stage in the nude and later blamed the incident on a "wardrobe malfunction." In typical
South Park fashion, the scene was an illustration of satire and depicted the American culture's selective outrage. The townspeople are angered by Cartman's display, rather than feeling concern for a horribly mutilated and disoriented character (
Butters) who is also present on stage, referencing the acceptance of violence and the taboo against sexual references. In the 2004
MTV Video Music Awards, comedian
Dave Chappelle jokingly told MTV that his appearance in the VMA was "the biggest mistake since you put Janet Jackson on the Super Bowl."
The halftime show continued to be a subject of discussion in 2005. At the beginning of 2005,
The Onion, a parody newspaper, ran as its headline article for
January 26,
2005,
U.S. Children Still Traumatized One Year After Seeing Partially Exposed Breast On TV. The article's satirical target was the nation's reaction to the incident, rather than the incident itself. On February 1, 2005, exactly one year after the halftime show, the PTC released a report titled
MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids with Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol, covering MTV programming during the network's "Spring Break" week from March 20 to 27, 2004, accusing MTV of irresponsibly promoting sex, drugs, and alcohol to impressionable youth. In response to the report, MTV network executive Jeannie Kedas argued that the report "underestimates young people's intellect and their level of sophistication." On February 6, however,
New York Times columnist
Frank Rich argued that
censorship on television was becoming more prevalent following the halftime show in his
February 6,
2005 column "The Year of Living Indecently". Examples he cited included certain
ABC refusing to broadcast
Saving Private Ryan due to the
profanity prevalent throughout the film, which was to be aired unedited in its entirety by the network and
PBS editing obscene language out of certain programs as the film
Dirty War.
Canada and abroad
In
Canada, where the show was broadcast by
Global Television Network, the incident passed largely without controversy: only about 50 Canadians complained about the incident to the
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC). CBSC received roughly twice as many complaints about other aspects of the Super Bowl broadcast, including music and advertising issues. Professor
Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at
Syracuse University, was quoted by Peter Bowes of
BBC News as speculating: "I know many people in other countries are scratching their heads and thinking 'What in the world is the big fuss over there?'"
Legal action
On
February 4, Terri Carlin, a banker residing in
Knoxville, Tennessee, launched a
class action lawsuit against Jackson and Timberlake on behalf of "all American citizens who watched the outrageous conduct." The lawsuit alleged that the halftime show contained "sexually explicit acts solely designed to garner publicity and, ultimately, to increase profits for themselves." The lawsuit sought "maximum"
punitive and compensatory damages from the performers. Ms. Carlin later dropped the lawsuit. Three months later, Eric Stephenson, a lawyer from
Farmington, Utah, filed a $5,000 lawsuit in
small-claims court against Viacom for "
false advertising" of the Super Bowl halftime show, as he, the father of three young children, claimed that pre-game advertising led him to believe that the halftime show would consist of
marching bands,
balloons, and a
patriotic celebration. The lawsuit was rejected because Stephenson should have filed a
federal lawsuit or complaint to the FCC, which was already investigating the halftime show.
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. . . better have you naked by the end of this song." In addition, the FCC cited a news article on the website of MTV (
MTV.com) claiming that the halftime show would promise "shocking moments" and that "officials of both CBS and MTV were well aware of the overall sexual nature of the Jackson/Timberlake segment, and fully sanctioned it—indeed, touted it as 'shocking' to attract potential viewers." although in later statements CBS asserted that while the exposure unplanned by CBS, it was deliberately planned by Timberlake and Jackson "independently and clandestinely". On
September 22,
2004, the FCC fined
Viacom the maximum $27,500 (US) penalty for each of the twenty CBS-owned television stations (including satellites of
WFRV in
Green Bay,
WCCO in
Minneapolis, and
KUTV in
Salt Lake City; current CBS
owned-and-operated station KOVR in
Sacramento at the time was owned by
Sinclair Broadcast Group) for a total $550,000 fine, the largest ever against a television broadcaster at that time. However, the Parents Television Council and even some of the FCC commissioners As a result of the incident, some networks established regulations requiring
time delays of as much as five minutes for live broadcasts such as awards shows and sporting events. When the game telecast from CBS aired starting on
February 1,
2007 on
NFL Network's
Super Bowl Classics, the entire halftime show has been completely passed over, cutting after a commercial break directly to the second half, and another incident listed below.
On
November 24,
2004, Viacom paid out $3.5 million to settle outstanding indecency complaints and stated that it would challenge the $550,000 penalty related to the incident. The
Parents Television Council has frequently criticized the appeal because they've claimed hypocrisy in CBS' immediate apology in the days following the Super Bowl. In March 2006, the FCC affirmed that the Super Bowl halftime show was indecent, so CBS paid the FCC's issued fine in July 2006 in order to take their appeal against their fine to federal court. CBS appealed the fine on
September 17 at the
U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of May 2008, CBS's appeal has yet to be solved.
Other controversies
Commercials
Prior to the broadcast, CBS rejected the
MoveOn.org ad
Bush in 30 Seconds because it was deemed too "controversial." CBS stated that it had a "decades-old" policy of rejecting ads regarding "controversial issues of public importance," although MoveOn charged that the networks had previously accepted similar ads from other groups. The Super Bowl broadcast featured numerous commercials for
erectile dysfunction medicines and advertisements for
Anheuser-Busch's
Bud Light brand featuring a
flatulating horse and a dog attacking male genitalia. Ironically, the latter commercial was the winner of the
USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter survey that year.
In a league-mandated policy meant to clear the airwaves of such advertisements, with the exception of the erection pills, the NFL announced that those types of commercials wouldn't air again during Super Bowl broadcasts (the league ended an advertising relationship with
Levitra in March 2007 as an official league sponsor). Additionally, Anheuser-Busch said that ads akin to those would never be produced again. In
January 2005,
Fox, the network that carried
Super Bowl XXXIX under the alternating network contract, rejected an advertisement for the cold remedy
Airborne that briefly featured the naked buttocks of veteran actor
Mickey Rooney. In a joking reference to that incident, CBS play-by-play announcer
Greg Gumbel stated to fellow commentator
Phil Simms the following:
October 28,
2007 when the NFL staged the first regular season game played outside North America before the second half of the contest at
London's
Wembley Stadium in what he dubbed "Super Bowel Returns".
Aftermath and effects
Censorship of broadcasting
Some have speculated that the fallout from this incident may have a subtle effect on
daytime television. These television shows are known for "
love in the afternoon" and regularly feature 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 lovemaking scenes. After the Super Bowl controversy, FCC commissioner
Michael J. Copps stated that it was time for a crackdown on daytime television and indicated that he was reviewing whether soap operas were violating the agency's indecency prohibitions.
Two other major sporting events that followed the Super Bowl that year also were forced to clean up their respective halftime shows following the incident. The
Pro Bowl, which would be played on
February 8, originally was to feature singer
J.C. Chasez, who was a member of
boy band NSYNC as was Timberlake, sing the
National Anthem before the game and perform his hit song "
Blowin' Me Up (with Her Love)" at halftime. However, the NFL wouldn't allow Chasez to perform during halftime due to the sexually suggestive content of his chosen song, (even though cable network
ESPN carried the game) replacing it with traditional Hawaiian dancers, which would be more appropriate for the game's atmosphere given that it was held in
Honolulu, Hawaii, and many television viewers in the nation were still in shock from the Super Bowl incident. The
2004 NBA All-Star Game also cleaned up its act, despite being broadcast on
cable television channel
TNT that wasn't under
FCC regulation as with all other cable channels, having halftime performer
Beyoncé perform "
Crazy in Love" rather than "
Naughty Girl", which they feared would incite controversy given its sexual content. Ironically, Jackson was in attendance at the game, and dressed conservatively.
Following these announcements,
Guiding Light edited out nudity from an episode that had already been taped. A week later, the show's executive producer
John Conboy was fired and replaced by
Ellen Wheeler. All nine American network soaps began to impose an unwritten rule of avoiding any sort of risqué adult scenes, and in the months following, soap opera periodical
Soap Opera Digest editors wrote about how daytime television was losing its steam.
Also, both the
46th Grammy Awards and the
76th Academy Awards, which were scheduled for
February 8 and
February 29 respectively, initiated a delay (up to ten minutes) to ensure that profanity and obscenity were not seen or heard. Since then, both award shows have used the tape delay.
The incident also prompted tighter control over content by station owners and managers. Viacom, at the center of the controversy, also employed the controversial
Howard Stern in its radio division (at the time called
Infinity Broadcasting). The expanding control on content is said to be a contributing factor that drove Stern away from
terrestrial radio and onto
Sirius Satellite Radio. It has also been reported that some teen-oriented awards shows in the summer of 2004 had also been purged of most sexual and profane content that had been perceived as staples in such awards shows in the past, including Fox's
Teen Choice Awards and MTV's self-created
Video Music Awards.
Sports broadcasting
The NFL also came under some smaller controversies over its telecasts. The FCC received a complaint about a telecast of a playoff game between the
Green Bay Packers and
Minnesota Vikings from January 2005 on
FOX, the complainant alleging that Minnesota player
Randy Moss, who scored a touchdown, apparently made movements appearing to "
moon" the spectators. However, the FCC denied the complaint because Moss was fully clothed at all times, and his gestures were shown for only a few seconds, thus warranting that the display wasn't indecent. On
January 13,
2007, during coverage on FOX of an NFL playoff game between the
New Orleans Saints and
Philadelphia Eagles, after New Orleans
safety Josh Bullocks intercepted the ball from Philadelphia
wide receiver J.J. Outlaw, the camera cut to the stands, showing for four seconds the words "FUCK DA EAGLES" on a woman's shirt. That drew a backlash from the
Parents Television Council, who filed complaints with the
FCC.
2004 presidential election
Frederick S. Lane wrote in his 2006 book
The Decency Wars that the Super Bowl halftime show controversy influenced the primary focus on "moral values" and "media decency" in the
2004 Democratic Party primaries. After the re-election victory of incumbent candidate
George W. Bush,
exit polls immediately following the elections revealed that nearly 20% of voters chose morality as their priority issue in voting, and 78% of voters who identified as "
born-again Christian" voted for Bush. Frank Rich of
The New York Times considered the 2004 re-election of Bush to be the "greatest coup of all" from the exposure of Janet Jackson's breast.
Eventually, Jackson appeared on CBS'
Late Show with David Letterman on
March 29,
2004. In April 2004, Jackson made fun of herself in a
Saturday Night Live appearance, first while playing
Condoleezza Rice in a skit, nervously answering a question by exposing her right breast, which was
pixelated by NBC, then by viewing a mock "home video" from her childhood when her bathing suit top came off in a wading pool.
In the meantime, after the Super Bowl, Justin Timberlake won two
Grammy awards in 2004 and put his musical career on hiatus to focus on
acting. In 2006, Timberlake released an album,
FutureSex/LoveSounds, which peaked at #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and spawned several number-one singles. Timberlake also told
MTV that he "probably got 10 percent of the blame", later explaining that "America's harsher on women" and "unfairly harsh on ethnic people", referring to the backlash suffered by him and Jackson.
In 2008,
MTV began rotating
Janet Jackson's most recent video "
Feedback", whose song was included Jackson's tenth studio album
Discipline, which debuted in the top spot on the American
Billboard 200 chart, selling nearly 181,000 copies its first week out. The cable network had also featured Jackson as its "Artist of the Week" for the week of
February 25. Meanwhile, Timberlake starred in a
Pepsi-Cola ad airing during
Super Bowl XLII.
Further Information
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