The upcoming documentary, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, promises to tell the true story of what went down during Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance.
The film is the latest production from the New York Times‘ Presents series, which previously gave rise to the Emmy-nominated Britney Spears doco, Framing Britney Spears.
Janet Jackson headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in Houston, Texas on 1st February, 2004 (the Super Bowl is a fancy name for the grand final of America’s NFL). Jackson started by performing her hit ‘All For You’, before the likes of P Diddy and Nelly took the stage.
For goodness know what reason, the producers chose to dilute Jackson’s performance by giving two songs to Kid Rock, but that wasn’t the biggest controversy of the day. Rather, that concerned the arrival of surprise guest Justin Timberlake, who joined Jackson onstage to perform his solo single, ‘Rock Your Body’.
The pair danced suggestively throughout before Timberlake removed a part of Jackson’s costume to reveal a shielded nipple. It sounds pretty harmless in retrospect, but the backlash was fierce. Jackson’s videos were blacklisted by MTV and her invitation to the 2004 Grammy Awards was rescinded. As for JT, he got off scot free after offering an apology.
The new documentary will include behind the scenes footage and interviews with NFL and MTV executives and others involved in the Super Bowl TV broadcast. The film will premiere in the US later in the month, with details of its Australian release to be confirmed.
