Janet Jackson Reveals How She Pulled Through After Super Bowl Backlash

After receiving widespread scrutiny in the aftermath of her 2004 Super Bowl performance, Janet Jackson recalled leaning into her family and faith.
 
In a new interview with Allure, the five-time Grammy winner opened up about what helped pull her through the backlash that occurred after the halftime show. During the now-infamous performance, co-performer Justin Timberlake grabbed Janet’s bustier in a planned move—which resulted in an unplanned, brief exposure of her right breast.
 
In the aftermath of the incident, Janet faced an unprecedented amount of backlash, most recently explored in the 2021 New York Times documentary, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, and the FCC fined CBS $550,000. Not only was Janet the main target of headlines poking fun at the incident, but her subsequent album release, Damita Jo, didn’t perform as well as expected, while Timberlake’s career soared. He was also invited back to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2018.

After being asked how she weathered that particular “storm,” she recalled to the outlet, “What’s really important is going back to having that foundation. Not just family, but God. That’s what really pulled me through,” adding, “It’s tough for me to talk about that time.”