It’s 14 years since he caused a national controversy by exposing Janet Jackson’s breast live on air.
But it was a decidedly family friendly halftime show as Justin Timberlake returned to the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The polished singer performed an energetic medley of his hits, but his standard concert-style show left fans at home somewhat underwhelmed, when compared with the theatrics of recent years.
One stand-out moment came during a tribute to the late Prince, with Timberlake singing a duet with a projection of the Purple Rain singer, before an aerial shot showed the host city Minneapolis turning purple in his honor.
Was it enough? The polished performer performed an energetic medley of his hits, but his standard concert-style show left fans at home rather underwhelmed, when compared with the theatrical shows of recent years
Icon remembered: One stand-out moment came during a tribute to the late Prince, with Timberlake singing a duet with a projection of the Purple Rain singer, before an aerial shot showed the host city Minneapolis turning purple in his honor
Brought back to life: Prince’s image was projected onto a sheet as Timberlake performed a tribute to the late singer
A brighter section picked out the icon’s notorious symbol within the cityscape.
However fans hoping for a cameo from Jackson herself, or even an *NSync reunion, were left disappointed.
The show started with Timberlake under the arena, dancing in a small contained space, before he emerged out of the tunnel and onto the field. By contrast Lady Gaga wowed the audience at last year’s show, by beginning her performance on the roof, and abseiling down into the arena.
Here comes JT! The show started with Timberlake under the arena, dancing in a small contained space, before he emerged out of the tunnel and onto the field
Can’t Stop The Feeling! The polished singer performed an energetic medley of his hits, but his standard concert-style show left fans at home somewhat underwhelmed, when compared with the theatrics of recent years
But while fans at home amused themselves by tweeting ‘Needed more nipple’, the NFL are unlikely to be concerned by the lack of theatrics.
Back in 2004 Timberlake was Jackson’s special guest when he infamously ripped off a piece of her clothing, revealing her nipple, beneath a star shaped sticker. Timberlake later described it as an unintended ‘wardrobe malfunction.’
CBS, which aired that Super Bowl, was fined $550,000 by the Federal Communications Commission, but the fine later was overturned.
The hashtags #JusticeforJanet and #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay became trending topics on Twitter days before Timberlake’s record third trip to the stage at the Super Bowl, as Philadelphia Eagles faced the New England Patriots at the U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
At a press conference on Thursday, Timberlake mentioned Jackson’s name, along with Jay-Z and ’NSync, when talking about rumored guests to join him onstage. He was not asked any direct questions about Jackson or the infamous wardrobe malfunction.
When the NFL announced late last year that Timberlake would be returning to the Super Bowl, the decision triggered a backlash from women, minorities and others who felt Jackson was unfairly forced to pay a far higher price than Timberlake faced. Some argued that Jackson, as a black woman, fell victim to a racist and sexist double standard and received harsher treatment than Timberlake, as a white man, did, and they said he benefited from “white male privilege.”
When asked during an interview last month if he and Jackson have since made peace, Timberlake said, “Absolutely.”
He said he and Jackson have talked privately about what happened.
‘Idon’t know that a lot of people know that,” Timberlake said. “I mean, I don’t think it’s my job to do that, because you value the relationships that you do have with people.”
Wardrobe malfunction: Justin Timberlake’s 2004 ‘nipplegate’ controversy with Janet Jackson
Infamous: Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s breast at 2004 Super Bowl
It was a notorious event which etched terms ‘wardrobe malfunction’ and ‘nipplegate’ in pop culture vocabulary forever.
In 2004, Justin Timberlake made waves as he removed a piece of Janet Jackson’s costume which exposed her breast during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.
The body part was exposed for less than a second before CBS cut to an aerial view of Reliant Stadium in Houston, however, the image had already been sent to an estimated 143 million viewers.
After exposing Jackson’s chest- which featured a nipple ring – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created a new rule for live television performances, implementing a five-second broadcast delay.
The FCC then fined CBS a record $550,000 which was fought in Supreme Court but was ultimately voided by the Third Circuit pf Appeals in 2011 and a case to reinstate the fine was refused in 2012.
One unlikely legacy that the incident may have left behind is that YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim claimed that it is what led to the creation of the video sharing website.
Last month Timberlake opened up about the incident during an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music’s Beats 1.
He said that he and Janet have ‘absolutely’ made peace about it, adding that ‘I don’t know that a lot of of people know that.’
Ouch: The body part was exposed for less than a second before CBS cut to an aerial view of Reliant Stadium in Houston, however, the image had already been sent to an estimated 143 million viewers
Justin continued: ‘I don’t think it’s my job to do that because you value the relationship that you do have with people.’
His full answer when asked by Zane about the moment was: ‘I stumbled through it, to be quiet honest. I had my wires crossed, and it’s just something that you have to look back on and go, like, “Ok, well, you know, you can’t change what’s happened but you can move forward and learn from it.”‘
His first Super Bowl halftime show was in 2001 as part of the boy band, ‘N Sync.