NIPPLEGATE: Did Janet Plan It?
Thu, Nov 19, 2015 bySleuth In an age where “infamy” is just fame with an edge, the frenzy created by ‘The Kiss’ in Aug. 2003 between Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilerasigned by all 3 in auction lot 17didn’t go unnoticed. So perhaps it’s no “coincidents” that just over 5 months later, on Feb 1, 2004, the words “wardrobemalfunction” would enter the lexicon when Justin Timberlake “accidentally” exposed JANET JACKSON’s right breast to the world100 million viewersfor a total of just 9/16 of a secondat halftime of Super Bowl XXXVIII {though, to be precise, she was a 35C}. “It was an accident,” Janet joined Justin in claiming. “It was not my intention that it go as far as it did.” According to insiders, “The skit was approved by CBS (right up to the top executivesalthough they swear this was never in the rehearsals), and MTV who produced the half time show had promised in advance that viewers would see ‘Janet's shocking moments.’” The moment of ‘climax’ clearly caused the troops in Iraq to erupt! Hard to explain why Janet had earlier removed her ring piercing and replaced it with a starburst shield that slipped over the nipple and all but obscured her areola to the cameras! Perhaps she got the idea from the infamous “hand bra” shocker of second husband Rene Elizondo’s fingers cupping her cupsa signed sepia print of which is included with the “Nipplegate” treasures in our Lot 8. Few know that following their divorce in 2000, Janet found herself *NSync with none other than JustinTimberlake {freshly free of Britney}! “She’s the sexiest female I think I’ve ever seen,” he gushed at the start of their affair. Asked if he’d seen any of her piercings yet, JT answered with silenceand a smile. “I’ve had my ‘Down South’ pierced,” Janet revealed. “You have to be careful with the clitoris, because if the piercer doesn’t know what he’s doing, it can be numbed for good.” Good thing she left us with this signed ‘southern’ exposure withthat areainflamed! Having “turned down the Super Bowl 3 times,” Timberlake reportedly “relented only because he once had a romance with Janet,” but since he “distanced himself from the incident,” the 2 have not spoken. “Certain things you just don’t do to friends,” Janet replied in 2006 when Oprah asked if he’d “left you hanging out there?” All the more remarkable, then, that Sleuth was able to secure signatures of both on this classic artifact of contemporary cultural history! “Our culture would never be the same,” ESPN the Magazine noted on the 10thAnniversary of “Nipplegate.” Thefalloutincluded “Janet Jackson” becoming the most searched term and image in Internet history {confirmed in the 2007 book of Guinness World Records}; the revelation became the most watched, recorded and replayed moment on TiVo ever (putting the digital device “on the map”); and a 25-year-old whiz kid named Jawed Karim tried to make it easier to find the in-demand clip by creating a new video sharing site so his buddies could see the slip. He called it “YouTube.”
