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FCC to investigate Janet Jackson's breast-baring Super Bowl performance
During her performance at Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, singer Janet Jackson exposed her breast for a split second, but the fallout from the move seems sure to last much longer.
"I am outraged at what I saw during the halftime show of the Super Bowl," Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell--son of Secretary of State Colin Powell--said in a statement issued on Monday (2/2). "Like millions of Americans, my family and I were gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt."
Powell was referring to a moment when Justin Timberlake , who was performing a duet with Jackson, pulled off a portion of Jackson's gothic stage costume in a move that left Jackson's right breast exposed; Jackson's nipple was mostly obscured by a decorative, metallic sunburst held in place by a nipple-piercing.
A torrent of statements followed, with CBS, sister channel MTV (which produced the performance) and Timberlake apologetically claiming that the move--which appeared to be choreographed--was accidental.
In an MTV News story that was published online last week--and since removed--Jackson's choreographer Gil Duldulao was quoted as saying that the singer's performance would include some "shocking moments."
"The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance," reads an MTV statement issued Sunday night (2/1). "MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it."
"CBS deeply regrets the incident that occurred during the Super Bowl halftime show," the network said in a statement. "We attended all rehearsals throughout the week and there was no indication that any such thing would happen. The moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended."
Timberlake issued a statement in which he said that the incident "was not intentional and is regrettable," and coined the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" when citing the culprit.
Jackson did not issue a statement, but her representatives told MTV News that she apologizes for the incident, according to MTV.com.
Despite the flurry of mea culpas, Powell said that he has "instructed the Commission to open an immediate investigation into last night's broadcast," and promised that said investigation would be "thorough and swift."
Meanwhile, though media coverage seems to be casting popular reaction to the incident as one of widespread outrage, many viewers apparently liked what they saw--or at least needed a second look before they made up their minds; TiVo--a company that makes digital video recorders--said in a statement that the Jackson-Timberlake moment "drew the biggest spike in audience reaction TiVo has ever measured," and claimed that "viewership spiked up to 180 percent as hundreds of thousands of households used TiVo's unique capabilities to pause and replay live television to view the incident again and again."
