Janet Jackson
Her stylist reveals the calculus behind the Super Bowl scandal
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Super Bowl.
© imago images / icon SMI
The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show hit the headlines. Was Janet Jackson’s nipple flash actually the brainchild of Justin Timberlake?
The Super Bowl appearance of Janet Jackson (54, “20 YO”) and Justin Timberlake (40, “In Time”) in 2004 made history. Not because of the singing or the stage performance of the two artists. Rather, the image of Jackson’s bare nipple burned itself into the minds of the audience. How did this come about? Jackson’s then stylist Wayne Scot Lukas now says, 17 years later, to the US page “Page Six”: It was the plan of co-star Timberlake.
More scandalous than the 2003 Trio Kiss?
The musician allegedly wished for something big for the appearance in the middle of the sporting event. According to Scot Lukas, it was the singer’s wish to outdo the competition with a “exposure”. Who, according to him, Timberlake saw as competition? Britney Spears (39, “Toxic”), Madonna (62) and Christina Aguilera (40), who caused a sensation with their kiss on the stage of the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2003.
The original plan for the Super Bowl appearance is said to have been as follows: Jackson should wear a dress and Timberlake should step on its train. Jackson’s bare bum should have come out in a pearl thong. But the outfit of today’s 54-year-olds had been changed a few days beforehand – and with it, allegedly, the plan. “Janet has already privately forgiven Justin,” says Wayne Scot Lukas. The two artists had “made peace a long time ago”.