Apologies all round from those involved in the half time show at this weekend's Super Bowl as American Football fans the world over recover from the apparent shock of getting a flash of Janet Jackson's right breast. It was all Justin Timberlake's fault. He was the surprise guest at the MTV produced half time musical bash - but in an ill advised move Mr Timberlake accidentally pulled off a piece of Ms Jackson's costume, exposing more of the singer than was planned. More humorous than the slip up itself was the apologies that followed:…







Article comments
26 - Bebster
On field fighting started with the opening kick-off with CBS donating air time to slow motion re-plays of uppercuts to the midsections of various players. In Football, one of the most dangerous sports ever played, it is common for such injuries as compound fractures, concussions, broken limbs and necks. How many times have we stared at the TV set as a player lies motionless on the field? Are you more comfortable explaining to your child why that man on the field isn't moving than you are talking about the female body? Don't BS me (or yourself) with "I wasn't prepared for such Depravity", you tuned in and let your children watch gladiators try to destroy each other simply to entertain you. One of the highest rated (most watched) programs in America is CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigated which routinely shows slow motion re-enactments of gun shot exit wounds complete with spattering blood and bone fragments. But that's OK, nobody talks about that. Over 150 million people tuned in to watch an event where one of the players might have died. Live on TV. Would anyone have talked about that the next day? Would there have been an FCC Investigation? Would CBS have apologised for subjecting us to such wanton violence? Don’t drop the whole moral degradation of the universe on Janet’s shoulders. Each and every one of us has a role to play.
27 - vamptasia
Well I think it is sad that people are harking on a boob so much.
Ok Lets look at football from the reality standards. NFL Football is a bunch of grown men in tight outfits with lots of padding knocking the crap out of each other trying to get a ball to a goal post.
People get seriously injured some even result in permanent disability and death but are we going to stop the sport heck no.
Have you noticed those cute little little barely there hardly any cloth to them left anymore costumes the cheerleaders wear now a days I mean half of them are just glorified bakinis with short short daisy duke like skirt/shorts with plenty of panty shots and butt cheeks hanging out. Do we make them put on more clothes heck no.
You got woman exposing themselves daily, Feeding a child at the store, or mall, Or in a park. We all where exposed to breasts when we where children being fed by our mothers don't make that same part of our body be dirty because it was slightly exposed during a half time game.
Woman wearing bathing suites that conveniently fall off when entering a pool. Necked people shots on various popular TV shows.
The problem is not that her boob was exposed. It is that people of America are ashamed of the natural body. They call it dirty and evil to expose it.
Look at art. How many of the most famous art pictures are of nude men and woman Statues, paintings and the like that you see when you walk into a museum. Do you call it dirty and evil. No. It is admired and found to be beautiful.
People need to quit harping on this whole expose your body and go to hell BS because it is not written in the bible as such.
Her nipple was covered. Maybe the tip was exposed but unless you get a magnifying glass and blow up the picture it is not fully exposed and the woman in shampoo commercials and movies with only their hair covering there breast reveal as much if not more than Janet did Yesterday. Get a life people. Because breasts provide it.
28 - Chris Wilson
Vamptasia,
You have a good point. But I think what is at root of Janet Jackson's exposure of her boob is simple. As viewers, we were all universally exploited against our will. We were led to believe (by CBS, by MTV by the NFL) that the Super Bowl halftime show was a family show. Most families do not want their children to see seductive dancing, exposed and pierced breasts, tattoos, etc... More importantly, CBS used the Super Bowl show as a way to blatantly and offensively promote it's upcoming Grammy show and Janet Jackson. Such controversy breeds conversation, talk and eventually viewers/record sells. We can't even watch a football game anymore without producers/singers/entertainers exploiting our every waking moment, offending us, distracting us, trying to take up our time and take our money. The exposed breast was just another way that we, as viewers were violated by an ever-increasing, overwhelming, consumer-driven culture. It was just another way that we have been further desensitized, shocked in such a way so that we will sit up and pay attention to their product......Now it's just being thrust at us without warning, simply because that's the only way they can get our attention so that we might briefly consider buying their packaged, fabricated plastic product that we do not particularly need...... Thus, we are losing control of our personal/private lives because multiple corporations have not an ounce of respect for the very people/customers that keep them afloat......There is no safe haven from blatant promotion.
29 - S.
Superbowl scandal… Male dancers prance around "naked from the waste up" with hardly a glance. Jackson's breast is exposed for a brief moment causes over a million glances. Parents allow their children to watch the brutality of men beating each other for a piece of skin. They allow their children to watch cheerleaders with their barely covered chests, crotches and derrieres; men without shirts and women in burlesque style clothing prancing around. (But it is ok because they are "dancers.") They allow their children to watch the alcoholic beverage sponsors, penile erectile dysfunction ads, internet ads depicting risky behavior. They even allow their children to *listen* to inappropriate-for-children lyrics of ALL of the performers. I don’t think this is exactly “family-viewing” or “family-listening” at that. Parents, take responsibility for your own lack of censorship (VHS recorders are great, arent they?) Simple reaserch of the halftime show performers would have shown none were exactly on the list of "christian-approved" or "politically-correct" performers. I applaud Ms. Jackson's beautiful body (as I applaud the dancers and cheer leaders!) If you don’t like it: turn it off. If corporate executives don’t like it: quite your overpaid job and get a life. If you want family programming watch the Disney channel.
30 - Chris Wilson
You're missing the point "S." Corporate executives do like it and planned it. Their apologies were already prepared prior to the halftime show and the breast exposure.......They WANTED this controversy to happen for promotional/moneymaking purposes. This is NOT an argument about the beauty of the female body or the morality of nakedness. It is an argument about people being shocked and manipulated in their homes all for the purpose of selling records and improving ratings on upcoming television programs. We are being manipulated and exploited.......That is the basic point......not the violence of football, the bare midriff of cheerleaders or the beauty of the human body.....
31 - intense
yoh, I think it was a blooper cause like ghost said she had a red bra underneath and i believe when he ripped it off he grabbed the bra and in the process the nipple ring caught the bra and tore the bra off of that side.janet has always been very erotic in her videos and she usually wears such nipple rings probably for some guy after the superbowl I heard she partied afterward or she could of had a jewel or something in the middle of the ring and it didn't stay with a bra that exposes only the nipple which if done right could be a real fashion statement and everybody knows how janet and fashion statements are
32 - intense
anyway put it this way if the kids don't know what a boob looks like then they still don't know and therefore can't make out janet's boob unless the parents tell them. the kids that know are better off because if they already know they won't freak out when they see the next one and sqirt all over themselves before the girl even touches him and it's up to the parents to tell your children what's right and what's wrong after you show them exactly what it is cause kids will not listen until they experience it for themselves and make a free decision on there own. for example: like cigarettes give him a cigarette light it and tell him cigarettes kill but you can try it I can gurantee 75%percent says he won't grow up smoking. this method can be difficult with the situation at hand so tell him the consquences of sexual harrassment and tell your daughters the consequences of indecent exposure or being a ebony teen: money, money, money lol (sike i'm just playing bout the last choice) regardless if you take my advice or not in the end it all relies on the kids cause if there gonna do it there gonna do it no matter what they gotta do what more rules they gotta break it's gonna happen and it's not gonna take long either i thought they still taught human anatomy at elem. school anyway?
33 - Dude
Is it me, or doesn't Justin's blaming the wardrobe person for the mishap seem a bit petty?
34 - adguy
In my opinion it was very much planned. You can clearly tell by how Janet's outfit "malfunctioned". The cup very cleanly separted from her outfit as if held on by velcro. Had it truely been an accident, her top would have shown signs of damage.
Isn't it bad enough we get subjected to these pathetic "lip sync" musical performances each year? Janet Jackson came off as nothing more than a "studio singer" who sounds good only after the sound engineers work their magic on the recordings. Since she can't seem to sing live, she has to resort to visual distractions and shock tactics.
Anyway, this incident and the array of poor commercials seen during the Superbowl just appears a bit sad to me. The attitude seems to be "Well, we can't think of anything truley clever or entertaining, so let's just settle for potty humor." It's similar to a comedian who goes on stage with weak material - if the material sucks, just say the "F" word a bunch of times and you'll get a cheap laugh.
Advertising is now following that same line of thinking.
35 - kdm
I can't believe this is still going on. How funny is this.
To the parents who were shocked on behalf of their children:
Your kids have seen worse, regardless of whether you are aware of it. Every teen pop star they listen to has revealed more skin on MTV than Janet did, the records they listen to are laden with innuendo and suggestive lyrics, the magazines they read discuss more provocative issues and believe it or not if they have any friends when you are not around they are talking about how hot Justin or Britney is. If you are aware of the above and do nothing then you are defeating your moral stance.
If you think otherwise you need to pay more attention to popular culture. And in doing so pay attention to the problems of the real world and not half a breast. Or you could change the channel at that time and watch someone getting bown away by an Uzi in an action movie which I'm sure (becasue nobody complains about it) is perfectly okay in your household.
If you're going to complain about the downfall of humanity be consistent and not just attack the obvious. It's demonstrative of a lazy and ignorant mind. To start with why don't you get the movie ratings changed so that kids are not allowed into R rated movies at all, then I can watch an adult film without having to suffer kids with their idiot parents.
36 - dena
Actually...the fact that the cup came away does not mean that she intended him to tear it off. The type of bustier/catsuit she had on has cups that snap in and out of it...so that you can snap in ones of different colors. They sell them on many lingerie sites on the web. As for the nipple jewelry...anyone who is a fan knows she wears that sort of stuff all the time. Her spokeswoman is saying Justin was just supposed to tear off the "outer" cup....leaving the inner red lace on. Instead....he pulled them both off....
37 - Jim
Okay, so Larry David gets bit on the dick, Janet Jackson gets all the press?
38 - reggie
1. While FCC Chairman Powell is outraged over his incident let's not forget part of this administration policy of allowing large media companies to own few stations will result in more marriages of MTV, CBS, and Viacom all being the same entity. Consolidation will lead to more incongruous marriages of a network trying to be family oriented and a cable channel trying to be edgy.
2. Another nearly nude person -- a streaker managed to get on the field despite the tightest security in Super Bowl history. From his proximity on the field if he was armed he could have killed a player, an official, or anyone in the stands. That was the most outrageous nudity of the night.
39 - Janet Love
Initially, I'd thought that it HAD to be intentional, and I thought it was a pasty (is that how you spell that?). However, after reading the news, and looking at the video a few times (okie, quite a few), it's clear that it was a mistake. It's not a pasty, it's a nipple shield, a sort of piercing jewlery.
Here's the video: Janet Jackson oops video.
Judge for yourself.
All that said, should we be shocked by a woman's breast? It's not a bad thing, is it?
-12
40 - Linda
You know all these people throwing a fit really makes me want to laugh. Brittney all but strips on a show, rubs all over men and women in her videos, kisses another woman on tv, and you can include Christina Aguilera in this one too, and you dont' see any investigation going on... but show a boob and all heck breaks loose... I don't understand it. Expected or unexpected it's not any worse than high school girls and boys all over mooning and flashing like they have been doing for well over 20 years... does that mean they should be investigated as well?
41 - Mother of Three
Brittney & Madonna's stunt was on MTV, I don't let my 4 & 7 year old watch MTV.
I have to sit with remote control in hand to change the channel for the superbowl? I DON'T THINK SO!!! I am tired of this stuff, and I am glad there is such an uproar and that there is going to be an investigation! The whole halftime show was nothing but soft porn to regular porn, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I don't want my kids watching that! And they should be able to enjoy a superbowl halftime show!