The production crew behind the Framing Britney Spears documentary are reportedly working on a new doco, with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake‘s 2004 Super Bowl half time show performance, which was later dubbed “Nipplegate” due to a “wardrobe malfunction”, at the centre of the doco.
Timberlake appeared in Jackson’s half time show as a special guest. At the end of the show during a performance of Timberlake’s ‘Rock Your Body’, when he sung the lyric “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song”, Timberlake tore the breastplate off Jackson’s costume, which was allegedly the original intention. However, with the breastplate, he also “accidentally” tore off Jackson’s bra underneath, revealing her breast and nipple – which was only partially covered – to around 140 million viewers watching at home.
Following the “malfunction”, Timberlake went on to release his incredibly successful FutureSex/LoveSounds record, while Jackson became essentially blacklisted from all Viacom-owned networks, such as MTV and CBS and saw her career essentially come to a halt.
She was banned from performing at any future Super Bowl shows. Timberlake went on to headline his own performance in 2018.
The documentary, according to a source who spoke with Page Six, “[Will] be all about the fallout and the suits who fucked over Janet [at] Viacom. They’re reaching out to everyone who was involved: dancers, stylists, directors. Everyone.”
Left/Right TV, as part of their collaborative work on the New York Times Presents series on FX and Hulu, will investigate what really happened during that performance and the extent of the fallout of that night.
The incident was kind of ironically thrust back into the spotlight thanks to the Framing Britney Spears documentary, where Timberlake issued a public apology via Instagram to both Spears and Jackson.
“I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed,” he wrote.
“The industry is flawed. It sets men, especially white men, up for success. It’s designed this way. As a man in a privileged position, I have to be vocal about this.
“Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.”
