Post by dobby on Feb 5, 2004 3:54:24 GMT -5
Janet Pleads Her Case--Again
by Joal Ryan
Feb 4, 2004, 12:10 PM PT
A day after issuing a press release apologizing for her wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl halftime show, the pop singer on Tuesday committed her mea culpa to videotape.
"I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention," Jackson said in the tape released Tuesday.
Clothed in a tasteful olive jacket and photographed from the mid-chest region upward, Jackson talks for less than 30 seconds and appears to avoid any and all crotch grabs. She does, however, work in several head shakes--the better to appear serious and possibly distressed.
She reiterates the story she's sticking to: (1) Having song-and-dance partner Justin Timberlake paw at her Super Bowl costume was her idea, (2) said idea was hatched on the spot at Houston's Reliant Stadium following the final rehearsal; (3) MTV (which produced the half-time show), CBS (which aired it) and the NFL (which suffered a big headache over it) had no prior knowledge of her choreographic brainstorm.
"Unfortunately, the whole thing went wrong in the end," Jackson said.
"The end" would be the part where Timberlake's garment grab exposed Jackson's jewelry-accessorized right breast.
Timberlake has termed the incident a "wardrobe malfunction." Jackson has concurred, saying a red lace bra was supposed to remain after her reputed onetime squeeze ripped at the rubber bustier.
Even MTV doesn't seem to be buying that version of events. "We were punk'd by Janet Jackson," MTV Networks CEO and chairman Tom Freston told a media panel in New York on Tuesday.
Conversely, media watchdogs don't seem to be buying MTV's version of events. Pre-halftime show, the network's own Website boasted that Miss Jackson promised "shocking moments." Post-halftime show, the site led its Super Bowl coverage with a tongue-in-cheek headline about how Jackson "got nasty" and went into a story that blithely noted how "jaws across the country hit the carpet at exactly the same time."
