Tom Brady has attracted some negative attention for claiming that Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson’s breast at the Super Bowl in 2004 was ‘a good thing’ for the NFL.
Timberlake and Jackson were performing his hit song ‘Rock Your Body’ during the Super Bowl half-time show when – at the climax of the performance – Timberlake ripped off a piece of Jackson’s outfit, exposing her breast.
In the process, they created an international scandal at the time, as well as inadvertently coining the phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction’.
After the event, Jackson was reportedly spotted in tears and surrounded by staff comforting her, whereas Justin laughed the situation off publicly, stating that it was ‘every man’s dream’ and saying at least they’d given everyone ‘something to talk about’.
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It seems as if Tom Brady is still of that opinion.
During a recent episode of his podcast, the record-breaking former New England Patriots quarterback – who played and won that Super Bowl – said: “I didn’t see much… Even I remember when we beat Carolina.
“We came off the field and that was when we had the wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. [The press were] asking me about that.
“I couldn’t even understand what they were telling me about. They said, ‘Did you see the halftime show?’ and I said, ‘I didn’t see anything.’
“I was thinking about the game.”
However, he later added: “I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows,
“Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so, who knows?”
Well, some have accused the recently retired QB of being ‘shallow’ with his comments, recalling how Jackson was put through the mill after the fact.
She issued a public apology at the time, stating: “The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals.
“MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did.
“I apologize to anyone offended — including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL.”
She later admitted to Oprah Winfrey that she regrets that apology, adding that she didn’t even really get why she had to apologise.
Timberlake also made a belated apology – years later – recognising the extra scrutiny that Jackson got afterwards as a black woman, which he largely avoided.
Hell, he was even invited back to the NFL’s showpiece game in 2018.
He said: “It's an understatement to say that it was sort of unfair if you consider it 50-50, I probably got 10 percent of the blame. And that says something about society.
“I think that America's harsher on women, and I think that America's unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”
Anyway, Brady’s comments have been slammed by some online, with one comment reading: “I don’t think he understands the amount of s**t she went through after that backlash.
“That comment was too superficial and shallow.”
Another read: “He should be ashamed for treating Janet's trauma like that.”
“He sees a black woman’s career being sidelined as a minor casualty for the sake of the NFL,” a third wrote.
UNILAD has contacted a representative of Tom Brady for a comment.
Topics: US News, Super Bowl, Celebrity, Sport, NFL, Justin Timberlake
Tom Wood