Timberlake says he made peace with Jackson after ‘Nipplegate’ scandal
Justin Timberlake managed to restore harmony with Janet Jackson after the duo was involved in the biggest controversy in Super Bowl halftime history.
Timberlake — who’s slated to headline the halftime show again at this year’s NFL title game — says he and Jackson made peace after he infamously tore away a portion of her costume during their Super Bowl performance in 2004, exposing her breast.
“Absolutely,” Timberlake told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of making peace with Jackson. “And I don’t know that a lot of people know that.”
The scandalous moment — which is widely referred to as Nipplegate — sparked a hullabaloo at the time, with some people speculating the incident was a publicity stunt while others believed it was an accident.
MTV, which produced the halftime show, asserted at the time that the incident was unintentional.
Timberlake, who previously assured a similar scandal won’t happen at this year’s show, told Lowe that Nipplegate was a topic of discussion when the NFL selected him to return for a second Super Bowl performance.
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“To be honest, it wasn’t too much of a conversation,” he said. “It’s just one of those things where you go, like, ‘Yeah, what do you want me to say? We’re not going to do that again!’”
Super Bowl LII takes place Feb. 4 at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium. Timberlake is slated to release a new album two days before the big game.
Pop star Pink is set to perform the national anthem.