Together again? Not so much.
Janet Jackson has shut down any rumours that she will be joining Justin Timberlake during this year鈥檚 Super Bowl halftime show.
鈥淭o put to rest any speculation or rumours as to whether I will be performing at the Super Bowl tomorrow; I will not,鈥 Jackson said in a statement released Saturday. 鈥淭hank you for your support and I do look forward to seeing you all very soon.鈥
Timberlake is returning to the halftime show 14 years after a wardrobe malfunction with Jackson caused a national controversy. Timberlake was Jackson鈥檚 special guest during her performance at that year鈥檚 game and ripped off a piece of her clothing, revealing her nipple. Timberlake later described it as an unintended 鈥渨ardrobe malfunction.鈥
CBS, which aired that Super Bowl, was fined $550,000 by the Federal Communications Commission, but the fine later was overturned.
The hashtags #JusticeforJanet and #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay became trending topics on Twitter days before Timberlake鈥檚 record third trip to the stage at the Super Bowl, at which the Philadelphia Eagles will face the New England Patriots at the U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
At a press conference on Thursday, Timberlake mentioned Jackson鈥檚 name, along with Jay-Z and 鈥楴Sync, when talking about rumoured guests to join him onstage. He was not asked any direct questions about Jackson or the infamous wardrobe malfunction.
When the NFL announced late last year that Timberlake would be returning to the Super Bowl, the decision triggered a backlash from women, minorities and others who felt Jackson was unfairly forced to pay a far higher price than Timberlake faced. Some argued that Jackson, as a black woman, fell victim to a racist and sexist double standard and received harsher treatment than Timberlake, as a white man, did, and they said he benefited from 鈥渨hite male privilege.鈥
When asked during an interview last month if he and Jackson have since made peace, Timberlake said, 鈥淎bsolutely.鈥
He said he and Jackson have talked privately about what happened.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that a lot of people know that,鈥 Timberlake said. 鈥淚 mean, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 my job to do that, because you value the relationships that you do have with people.鈥
Mesfin Fekadu, The Associated Press
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