In the wake of 2004’s Super Bowl XXXVIII—the one in which Janet Jackson’s exposed nipple stopped the world dead in its tracks—Justin Timberlake threw Janet Jackson under the bus repeatedly. He showed up at the Grammys a few days later (a ceremony Janet was initially supposed to appear at but was disinvited when the world saw with its own eyes that she had at least one boob), melodramatically calling the supposedly accidental exposure “unintentional” and “completely regrettable.” He added, “I apologize if you guys were offended.” In interviews he described himself as “shocked and appalled” at what happened and said, “I don’t feel like I need publicity like this.”
A few years later, long after Janet’s hit-making days were over, Justin admitted that he “could’ve handled it better,” and then a few more years later: “I wish I had supported Janet more.” Easy to say when your career hasn’t effectively been canceled, as Janet’s was. Never mind it was he who was the active party in the breast reveal that introduced “wardrobe malfunction” into our cultural lexicon.
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