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Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show
Janet Jackson covers her breast immediately
after Justin Timberlake exposes it.
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, and resulted in a record $550,000 fine levied by the Federal Communications Commission to CBS, 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, along with other participants in costumes, such as Kid Rock wearing an American flag with holes for the sleeves and collar, which some viewers felt was offensive due to the "difficult times of war" going on.
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, the PTC claiming responsibility for around 65,000 of them. 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 and Phyllis Schlafly also expressed criticism of the halftime show in their respective weekly columns. Georgia senator Zell Miller, both on the floor of the United States Senate and an editorial on Salon.com, denounced the halftime show as what he perceived as declining morality in America. However, an Associated Press poll found that only 18% of Americans supported the FCC's investigation. 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 will 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."
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." Three days later, PTC president L. Brent Bozell published a column "MTV Knows No Shame", claiming that MTV "wants...an audience of sexually precocious children, too young for pornography, but eager for the next best thing." 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 column "The Year of Living Indecently".
Other countries
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.
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." CBS, however, argued that the exposure was unplanned, 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, WC, 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 criticized the FCC for fining only twenty CBS stations, not all of them, for the halftime show.
The United States House of Representatives passed a bill, soon after the Super Bowl, to raise the maximum FCC fine penalty from said $27,500 to $500,000 per violation. The United States Senate voted to decrease it to $275,000 per incident, with a cap of $3 million per day. The two houses reconciled the differences in fine levels, settling for a fine of $325,000 (US) per violation in the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005.
Many entertainment companies were forced to modify themselves due to the public outrage. Clear Channel Communications removed "talk-radio host" Howard Stern from several of its large-market radio stations within a month of the incident, citing the raunchy content of Stern's show. The FCC fined Clear Channel after a Florida-based radio show featuring Bubba the Love Sponge was charged with indecency. 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.[47] 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 have 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. As of January 2008, CBS's appeal has yet to be solved.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.org
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