The Eagles may have clenched the Super Bowl trophy yesterday, but it was Janet Jackson who won the day.
To fully appreciate this story, we need to take a little trip down memory lane… In 2004, Justin and Janet performed together in the Super Bowl halftime show. At the end of their performance, Justin ripped off Janet’s bra, exposing her right breast to tens of millions of people around the world.
Related: Justin Timberlake returns with video for “Filthy”: a cyborgian orgy of metal, flesh, and fetish
A backlash ensued. Her career was totally derailed. She was banned from the radio. MTV refused to play her videos. And she was hit with an onslaught of bad publicity. Meanwhile, he walked away from the whole thing largely unscathed and went on to release several more successful albums by (ironically) appropriating the music Jan’s older brother, Michael.
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Cut to 14 years later. Janet seems to have moved on from the whole thing. She’s a billionaire with a newborn baby and her own record label, which she used to release her most recent (totally underappreciated) album, 2015’s Unbreakable. Her fans, on the other hand, have not. They’re still pissed at Justin for what he did, and rightfully so. He never really truly apologized to her, after all.
So as Timberlake prepared to take to the stage yesterday, #JusticeforJanet began trending on Twitter, with people all over the country throwing their support behind the 51-year-old pop icon:
One of these people is banned from the #SuperBowl, the other gets a platform to launch a comeback.
This is what sexist double standards look like!!! #JusticeForJanet pic.twitter.com/leP0pqz8He
— Meghan Schneider (@meghanloisann) February 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/CindyLAbelFilms/status/959989031730851840
https://twitter.com/beingmeSarah/status/960363082265645056
https://twitter.com/HipsteriaBecca/status/960236819932729344
https://twitter.com/TheShadyFacts/status/960344019535450112
he’s really performing the very song that resulted in years of shit for Janet Jackson after the 2004 performance. wow. Justin is fucking disgusting and DISRESPECTFUL. #JusticeforJanet #HalftimeShow
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) February 5, 2018
Even Bette Midler got in on the action:
Oh, the Superbowl, the Superbowl, it's just inescapable. So, how about some #JusticeforJanet, while we're talking about #SuperBowlLII ? Fourteen years is a a long time to wait for a real apology and a long time for a talented woman to be out in the cold.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) February 3, 2018
Another hashtag that started trending was #JanetJacksonAppreciatonDay:
Just a reminder that Timberlake’s career did not suffer and Janet Jackson’s was derailed. #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay
— Christine Nangle (@nanglish) February 5, 2018
TIL YOU DO RIGHT BY JANET, EVERYTHING YOU THINK ABOUT GONNA FAIL JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/ijk89Djvw0
— George M Johnson Garçon (@IamGMJohnson) February 5, 2018
So, to add insult to injury, Justin Timberlake is performing Rock Your Body – the very song he performed when he exposed Janet Jackson's breast. Disgusting. #TimesUp #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay
— Elgin Charles (@ElginCharles) February 5, 2018
Justin Timberlake totally disrespected & dismissed Prince when he was alive; yet, he includes footage of him in this halftime performance. This dude is the ultimate culture vulture and fake AF. #JanetsLegacyMatters #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay
— Elgin Charles (@ElginCharles) February 5, 2018
You know who wouldn’t have tastelessly used #Prince in her #SuperBowl halftime show? #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/CejknYAcqO
— Jessica Webster (@A2Jess) February 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/OfficialBrianaB/status/960301883700133888
This time, it was Laverne Cox who joined the pro-Janet brigade:
Living for #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay. we love you Miss Jackson. It's all for you. When we think of you nothing else seems to matter. Get us all together again in this Rhythm Nation. https://t.co/jJkXqSch3c
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) February 4, 2018
And then there were the memes…
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be0SftCHBhg/?hl=en&tagged=janetjackson
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be0HNWplNUl/?hl=en&tagged=justiceforjanet
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be0aXdsBDGF/?hl=en&tagged=janetjackson
https://www.instagram.com/p/BezdZkyBfhh/?hl=en&tagged=justiceforjanet
https://www.instagram.com/p/BezHpOFlHU6/?hl=en&tagged=justiceforjanet
Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, Karma can take a while to come back around. But, rest assured, she always keeps those receipts.
Related: The Internet’s Been Jamming Out To Janet Jackson’s “Nasty” Ever Since Trump’s “Nasty Woman” Comment
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PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Olld slapper’s cynical media stunt went tits up literally and so blame the young less much much less expreencied because ciswhitecapitalistmeansofproduction
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Much much much younger and less experienced kid*
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Although “up” hardly accurate in the circumstances. #SpanielsEars
gft77
Anyone who thinks you buy a garment that rips away at the boobs and doesn’t believe it’s a stunt is a fool. Also, Janet went on to marry a billionaire and have a baby, so I’m not sure why we should be feeling sorry for her.
kandeemann2001
your sassy little comment completely misses the mark. first of all, nobody is asking ANYTHING from you – so you can keep your sympathy to yourself. she doesn’t need it. second, the issue that people had with timberlake had nothing to do with the “stunt” itself. it was his behavior in the aftermath. justin was inside the dressing room, had rehearsed the move with janet, he posed NO objection to it whatsoever, and followed through with it onstage. and immediately upon exiting the stage, just moments after the performance, he made a comment to an entertainment TV news reporter that remarked something similar to: “we love to give you guys something to talk about.” it wasn’t until shit really – REALLY – hit the fan that he started claiming that he was “duped” and “misled” into doing it. and that, gft77, is the issue. he threw janet as far under the bus as he possibly could, and he watched while she was crucified by the media, by the public, and even the bush administration. furthermore, janet wasn’t just his friend. she was his lover. and even in the aftermath, she never said a single negative word about him and she remained completely faithful in her loyalty. so, the fact that justin would cosign this “stunt” 100%, rehearse it, carry it out onstage, make a smarky little comment about it right afterwards, and then allow his friend and lover to be CRUCIFIED for it…that is the issue here. but like you said, she married a rich man and had a baby, so that makes everything okay…
CTAF
But it was Janet’s idea. She came up with the idea, thats why she was wearing the outfit that had the tear away piece, and when they got to part of the song “bet I have you naked by the end of this song”, JT would rip that part away, exposing her pretty frilly bra, of course though the bra part went along with it and the world saw Janets boob. Still, it was designed as a stunt, JT didn’t just decide he was going to assault her and rip her clothes off, some of those tweets seem to not realize it was planned
Jack Meoff
I thought that story that there was supposed to be a bra under the rip away part was just a cover up. I always thought the plan was to expose her naked breast but when the backlash ensued they made up the story about the bra. I am glad Justin didn’t get blamed for it because he would have just been going along with what was planned.
Bob LaBlah
I wonder if there is any truth that her arab prince husband is beating her ass in front of the staff and calling her all sorts of derogatory names.
http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2017/9/13/report-janet-jackson-to-seek-full-custody-of-son-amid-divorc.html
carver.robertd
What, no wardrobe malfunctions? Or gay white boys copping a feel?
chris33133
And here I thought/read that Pink had won the Super Bowl. Just goes to show that it depends on which news outlet one reads.
Dymension
Oh, do stop it everyone! Janet is just fine.
whitakerk861
2018 and Janet and the Super Bowl are still a topic. If think that was a red bra she had under her Super Bowl outfit then you would argue that a dickey is a shirt. It was planned. Look at the photos. The red bra is frilling. There’s no bra. It was a stupid idea and both deserved criticism for it or none. Personally, a bare boob does not bother me but for some reason it made Americans clutch their pearls.
Rob91316
I was hoping Janet would make a surprise appearance to rush out on stage, rip off Justin’s cod piece, and expose his Prince Albert.
Me2
HAHAH! LOL
Doug
I’ve never understood why this was dubbed “Nipplegate” and why it became such a big deal. Her nipple was covered with what looked like a large round metal pastie… it never revealed her whole boob. I was also left wondering why if she didn’t want her breast shown that she wore that in the first place… women don’t walk around wearing those under their clothes.
DCguy
You want to see how differently media treats men and women? Easy,
The stunt was obviously planned, he was singling the line about having her naked and her top was obviously designed to pull away.
She was crucified and he was allowed to lie and claim he didn’t know.
batesmotel
This is news to me. This is only the site I heard that there was some bizarre justice for Janet Jackson out there. Never saw that at all. And I love Janet Jackson. But Timberlake was asked to do the Super Bowl because he’s got a new album coming out. She doesn’t.
JohnnyCockets
I agree had no idea Janet was a thing on super bowl Sunday. Didn’t hear about it anywhere from anyone except just now on March 2nd on Queerty. Maybe I live under a rock or maybe it wasn’t really that big of a thing. Either way Queerty got a story and we read it. So good job Queerty.