Justin Timberlake Reportedly Set Up Infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction
Did Justin Timberlake set up Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction?
Wayne Scot Lukas, the stylist who dressed Jackson for her 2004 Super Bowl performance, told Page Six that Timberlake wanted the moment to outdo his ex, Britney Spears.
Lukas claims that Timberlake "insisted on doing something bigger than [Britney, Madonna and Christina's VMAs] performance. He wanted a reveal." During the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards a few months earlier, Madonna kissed and performed with Spears and Christina Aguilera onstage.
According to Lukas, Jackson originally planned on wearing an outfit inspired by Kim Cattrall's character in Sex and the City.
"Janet was going to be in a Rocha dress, and [Justin] was going to step on the back of her dress to reveal her butt in this pearl G-string," he shared with the outlet. However, "the outfit changed a couple of days before, and you saw the magic."
At the end of their Halftime Show performance, Timberlake removed part of Jackson's black corset top, revealing her breast. At the time, Timberlake called it a "wardrobe malfunction," but Lukas says that was not the case: “I wouldn’t call it a wardrobe ‘malfunction’ in a million years. It was the most functioning wardrobe in history. As a stylist, it did what it was intended to do."
Timberlake's recent public apology to Jackson inspired Lukas to open up about the controversial moment 17 years later.
Lukas is currently working on a tell-all book about the entertainment and fashion industries.