Janet Jackson’s Designer Reveals Shocking Truth Behind Her ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ At The 2004 Super Bowl

Gege Akutami/Shueisha, JUJUTSU KAISEN Project

Janet Jackson‘s wardrobe designer, Wayne Scott Lukas, has revealed what actually caused Janet’s infamous wardrobe during her performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show back in 2004. It turns out that the malfunction was very much intended, though it actually went wrong.

What Actually Happened??

In 2004, Janet’s right breast was completely exposed in her outfit to over 140 million viewers on television. Justin Timberlake was on stage as well and pulled off a piece of Janet’s bustier, leaving her chest and a nipple shield exposed.

Chatting to TMZ Sports on Tuesday about the moment, Wayne explained how exposing Janet’s breast was always part of the plan because they knew it would become a highly talked about moment. He said: “Britney [Spears], Madonna and Christina Aguilera kissed in front of Justin on MTV [back in 2003]. So, Janet’s choreographer Gill said, ‘We have to do something bigger.’ That’s how this became that.”

However, MTV producers were supposed to cut straight to black after Janet’s breast was exposed to give her some privacy – which they didn’t do. Wayne continued to share: “They kind of left Janet out hanging, so the people I’d blame are the MTV producers.”

Wayne further claimed that Justin was supposed to “come back down under the stage to meet [him] to wrap [Janet] up in clothes”, but Janet never came back down and instead “just disappeared”.

Wayne spilled even more secrets from the Super Bowl, noting how the original plan for Janet’s performance wasn’t actually to expose her chest. She was instead supposed to wear a G-string pair of underwear and flaunt her figure, but the plan to do that changed only two days before the game and required Wayne to redesign the entire of her outfit.

He finished off the tale by saying: “I’m the only one who really knows what happened, because I designed the outfit, made the outfit, and changed the outfit two days before the actual production. I know all the stories and all the secrets, and I know where the bodies are buried.”

What Happened Afterwards?

The day after the Super Bowl, Janet issued an apology, saying that the costume reveal had gone further than intended. She said at the time: “It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. MTV, CBS [and] the NFL had no knowledge of this whatsoever and, unfortunately, the whole thing went wrong in the end.”

The moment also received over half a million complaints, sparking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open up an investigation into the incident.

However there is a silver lining in it all. During Janet’s two-part Lifetime documentary that came out in 2022, she confirmed that not only had she and Justin forgiven each other and moved on from the whole thing, but that they have also remained good friends!

Janet sees the whole thing as “an accident that should not have happened” and has drawn her line in the sand. We wish all involved the best with their future endeavors.