Inside The Downfall Of Janet Jackson's Career

Pop music icon Janet Jackson is one of the most successful musicians of all time. Sister to the King of Pop himself, the late Michael Jackson, Janet was destined for fame, if not by her own merit, then purely by association to her famous brothers, The Jackson 5.

Jackson didn't rely on her last name, though. The musician proved herself to be just as talented as her siblings and cemented her place in modern music history with 10 number one hits on The Billboard Hot 100 chart, seven number one albums on The Billboard 200 chart, five Grammy Awards and 26 nominations, countless critical acclaims, and even more fans around the world. For years, Janet churned out popular music and revolutionized the industry and pop culture.

Janet was a formidable figure in music for decades, and her career was strong as ever in the early 2000s. She was prepared to have an ultra-successful year in 2004 until less than one second on live television completely altered the course of her career, overshadowing her past achievements and making her synonymous with a phrase that hadn't yet been invented. After February 1, 2004, her life would never be the same. This is the downfall of Janet Jackson's career.

2004 was set to be a massive year for Janet Jackson. In 2003, it was announced that Jackson would headline the halftime performance at the upcoming Super Bowl XXXVIII, and she was slated to release a new album soon after.

Just days before Jackson took the stage at the Super Bowl, MTV announced that fellow superstars Jessica Simpson, Nelly, P. Diddy, and Kid Rock would join the performance, and her choreographer, Gil Duldulao, teased "some shocking moments," referring to a surprise appearance by Justin Timberlake, as his involvement had yet to be announced. Duldulao also noted, "I don't think the Super Bowl has ever seen a performance like this."

Not only was Jackson preparing in early 2004 to perform at one of the year's biggest sporting events, but she was also finishing and promoting her upcoming album "Damita Jo." "I've always wanted to do an album where the music is a complete departure from what people know me for," she said of the album in a promotional interview. Jackson was prepared for a media storm in 2004, but it was ultimately a much more intense storm than she had anticipated.

Football and Janet Jackson fans alike were prepared to see Jessica Simpson, P. Diddy, Nelly, and Kid Rock on stage with her, but viewers had no idea Justin Timberlake was going to join the performance. After singing the opening song of a medley then stepping offstage for the male performers, Jackson reemerged to sing her hit "Rhythm Nation." With just over a minute left, Timberlake surprised the audience, and the two sang his hit "Rock Your Body."

In the last seconds of the performance, as Timberlake sang the lyrics "gotta have you naked by the end of this song," Timberlake ripped Jackson's top, revealing her entire breast to millions of viewers in an incident that would be labeled "Nipplegate" and coin the term "wardrobe malfunction." Public criticism ensued.

As noted by The New York Times, onlookers wondered if the mishap was planned. The Federal Communications Commission would impose a $550,000 fine on both CBS, the network that aired Super Bowl XXXVIII, and Jackson, as reported by Vox, while Timberlake faced no such penalty for his involvement in the show. But Jackson did win one big victory in court when a panel of judges ruled that she and CBS were "wrongly fined," per The Wrap.

Post-performance, the media unleashed on Janet Jackson, while Justin Timberlake's feedback ranged from minor grievances to outright praise. A statement the performance's producer, Salli Frattini of MTV, gave to USA Today over a decade after the incident sums up the general consensus of the media in 2004: "I believe he kind of manned up and talked about it all and I'm not sure she really did ... I don't believe she handled the situation as well as he did."

The handling of the situation to which Frattini was referring consisted of two apologies within a week after the Super Bowl. In one, Timberlake said, "It was not intentional and was regrettable," per CNN, while Jackson released a statement saying, "It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended — including the audience."

In its initial statement about the mishap, MTV said, "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. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it." But MTV quickly shifted its stance, and soon after, a network executive, Tom Freston, told Reuters (via People), "Janet Jackson engineered it," all but rescinding its prior apology.

As was typical at the time, the Grammy Awards were scheduled for the Sunday following the Super Bowl, and both Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were slated to perform at the ceremony. Days before the Grammy Awards, it was announced that Jackson would not be participating in the event as planned, as reported by The New York Times.

Timberlake, though, attended the event and took home two Grammy Awards that evening. He also referenced the Super Bowl halftime show and apologized again when accepting his award for best male pop vocal performance for his song "Cry Me a River," calling the incident "regrettable."

Just after the Grammy Awards aired, the public learned that Jackson was disinvited from the show for refusing to apologize during the awards ceremony, despite having issued an apology almost immediately after the performance had happened. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Timberlake faced the same ultimatum, but since he made the desired apology, he was able to attend. Jackson was supposed to be included in a tribute to her friend Luther Vandross and was replaced by Patti Labelle.

After what proved to be an eventful week in Janet Jackson's life, she returned her focus to the promotion of her upcoming album, "Damita Jo." In its first week, the album pushed just over 380,000 units, as told by Today, but was bested for the top spot on The Billboard 200 chart by Usher's "Confessions" album. Her previous album, "All For You," hit number one on the chart, as did four of her prior albums.

"Damita Jo" was met with mixed reviews, garnering a cumulative score of 53 on Metacritic. Some critics praised the production and sound of the album, while others lambasted it for being overtly sexual. Ultimately, "Damita Jo" was a commercial flop for Jackson in comparison to her past records, despite fans' anticipation pre-Super Bowl. The lack of success for "Damita Jo" was thanks in part to radio and television stations, namely MTV and VH1, refusing to play her music due to the incident even before the album debuted, per Rolling Stone.

Jackson tried to maintain a good attitude about the incident and focus on "Damita Jo," visiting late night shows like "The Late Show with David Letterman," where she told Letterman, "I don't want to relive any of that," but answered his questions despite her requests to change the topic. Jackson would also reference the Super Bowl controversy in a "Saturday Night Live" sketch but make no mention of it again for a couple of years.

After two years passed, the dust seemed to settle on the incident, but Janet Jackson's career was still suffering. In 2006, Jackson attempted a comeback, releasing her first album since 2004's "Damita Jo" and appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss once and for all what happened at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

In a sit-down interview with Winfrey, Jackson explained the wardrobe malfunction, saying, "He was to take and rip the piece off that he did ... but more came off than what was supposed to," and calling the moment "very embarrassing." She shared, too, that her apology issued shortly after the Super Bowl was pushed by her management and that she regretted making it because the accident was just that — an accident.

Not long before Jackson's appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Justin Timberlake took to MTV to discuss the incident as well. Timberlake called the backlash unfair and stated, "If you consider it 50/50, I probably got 10 percent of the blame ... I think that America's harsher on women, and I think that America is, you know, unfairly harsh on ethnic people."

Winfrey brought up Timberlake's interview during her time with Jackson, and Jackson agreed that the public was harsher on her than Timberlake, saying, "I think they did put all the emphasis on me, as opposed to us." She noted, too, that Timberlake had reached out to apologize, but she would speak to him in her own time.

Just before her interview with Oprah Winfrey aired, Janet Jackson released her ninth studio album, "20 Y.O.," commemorating the album she had released 20 years prior, "Control." Like "Damita Jo," "20 Y.O." was met with mixed reviews. Its cumulative score on Metacritic was 52, and its sales were only enough for a number two debut and peak on The Billboard 200 chart.

Also like "Damita Jo," "20 Y.O." was ignored on the radio and television, partially accounting for low sales. Just two weeks prior, Justin Timberlake's album "FutureSex/LoveSounds" debuted at number one on the chart, per Billboard, far outselling his previous album, "Justified," which was released in 2002.

Over 10 years later, some critics have evaluated both "Damita Jo" and "20 Y.O." through a new lens and have decided that both albums were unfairly criticized, a notion they acknowledge was pointed out by Black journalists at the time. A review by Pitchfork noted that "Damita Jo" was dismissed due to the timing of its release, as well as its subject matter. The album's sexual nature was not well received in light of Jackson's exposure at the Super Bowl.

Pop Matters detailed that "20 Y.O.," which touched on themes of racism and sexism, is particularly poignant in retrospect, especially given the directives and behavior of a certain network executive that were largely hidden at the time. Due to the controversy, though, and the purportedly vengeful network executive's actions, the album wasn't given the credit it deserved.

In 2018, The New Yorker investigated Leslie Moonves, the former C.E.O. and chairman of CBS Corporation. Despite speaking out publicly against sexual harassment amidst the #MeToo movement, Moonves was accused by multiple employees of committing the same acts which he was decrying. Moonves would eventually resign from his position, but not before purportedly doing everything in his power to destroy multiple women's careers, including Janet Jackson's.

The Huffington Post noted that Moonves was infamous for holding a grudge and would seek revenge for years. As aforementioned, CBS aired Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Grammy Awards the following week. After the halftime show incident, both Jackson and Justin Timberlake were banned by Moonves from the upcoming Grammys ceremony, but Timberlake's attendance was reinstated after he made a personal apology to Moonves. Jackson, however, reportedly refused to apologize to Moonves, and her refusal sealed her fate, which was, unfortunately, in the hands of the CBS executive.

Also under Moonves' purview at the time were MTV, VH1, and several radio stations, which were all directed by Moonves not to play Jackson's music, ultimately resulting in the poor performances of "Damita Jo" and "20 Y.O."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Janet Jackson's career has never fully recovered, but she did enjoy some success post-Super Bowl XXXVIII, as well as some poetic justice in the form of an apology from Justin Timberlake, albeit over a decade later and after significant public backlash. Critics and the general public also acknowledged her mistreatment, and there was a push to work to better support women, especially those who have directly suffered from misogyny.

After "20 Y.O.," Jackson stopped working with her longtime record label Virgin Records and released "Discipline" in 2008 and "Unbreakable" in 2015, both of which were number one albums on The Billboard 200 chart. Despite the deterioration of her career, Jackson's net worth is an estimated $190 million, per Celebrity Net Worth, and Lifetime has produced a 2022 documentary called "JANET" that details her life story.

Before and after the halftime show controversy, Jackson remained an enormous influence on both music and culture, inspiring legions across the world and cementing herself as one of the most successful performers of all time. She will always be associated with Super Bowl XXXVIII, but the conversations have changed. Jackson is no longer the scapegoat, but an example of tenacity and grace despite blatant mistreatment.