Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction: 10 Unexpected Results

by Stacy Lambe 1/30/2014

nipplegate 1 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 2 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 2-1 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 3 copy
nipplegate 4 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 5 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 6 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 7 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 8 copy

[Photo: Getty]
nipplegate 9 copy

[Photo: Getty]

As fans get ready for the 2014 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers they may find themselves thinking of Janet Jackson’s famous wardrobe malfunction that happened 10 years ago. The incident involving Justin Timberlake was considering the “nipple seen around the world.” Within hours following the the halftime show, the fallout had begun. Blame was placed on MTV (which was in charge of producing the halftime shows), Timberlake and, of course, Jackson.

The singer took most of the heat, getting blacklisted from TV and radio, disinvited to the Grammys and all but shut out from the pop world. Timberlake suffered some minor scuffs before facing the music after critics cried he didn’t do enough to support Jackson. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl itself quickly returned to middle aged white men for its halftime entertainment. It wasn’t until Madonna took the stage in 2012 that the show started feeling fresh again.

While all of this happened (much of it recorded by the likes of ESPN), there were some unexpected results: The idea for YouTube was spawned following the need to watch the viral moment online, Family Guy earned an Emmy nomination for its portrayal of the incident and TiVo became a household product. All of this over 9/16 of a second of nipple on TV.