Tom Brady on Monday said he thinks the infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show wardrobe malfunction in 2004 was “probably a good thing” for the NFL because it brought more publicity for the game and halftime shows.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion was reflecting on the moment while reviewing Sunday’s game and Rihanna’s halftime show.
“She’s a great performer,” Brady said of the “Rude Boy” singer. “Been at it for a long time, and she just blows everyone away all the time. She’s one of the unique performers – It’s great to see people on that stage too ’cause I think that stage of the Super Bowl is reserved for a lot of special people… they’re tough to top.”
He admitted that in the years he played the Super Bowl he missed the halftime shows because he was focused on preparing for the second half.
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But he said he did remember the frenzy that ensued after Justin Timberlake ripped off a part of Jackson’s clothing during a duet in the halftime show that revealed her right breast on national TV.
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Brady said after he and the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers in that game, “We came off the field and that was when we had the wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson and they were asking me about that, and I couldn’t understand what they were telling me.”
He added, “They’re like, ‘Did you see the halftime show? Blah, blah, blah,’ and I’m like ‘No, I didn’t see anything. I was thinking about the game.‘”
Reflecting on the incident nearly 20 years later, he said it was probably a “good thing” all-in-all for the league “because it got everybody to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows. Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so who knows.”
Shortly after his comments were made public, Brady received some backlash. Several people reacted to his take on Twitter, calling it “shallow” for not considering how negatively the moment affected Jackson’s career.
“He should be ashamed for treating Janet’s trauma like that,” one person wrote.
Another stated, “I don’t think he understands the amount of s— she went through after that backlash. That comment was too superficial and shallow.”
Some people criticized Brady more harshly, like the Twitter user who wrote, “Janet’s career and legacy was nearly DESTROYED due to the incident, and the ONLY thing Tom Brady can speak on NOW after 19 years is the publicity of the NFL?”
Brady did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Many people now believe that Jackson’s race also contributed to how much her career suffered after the performance, that not only sexism but racism led to her facing the brunt of the criticism instead of Timberlake.
Expanding on that, one person wrote “So a black woman’s career and reputation is damaged and she was taunted for a number of years by the mainstream media but you know what, it was good for the NFL?! Clearly too many knocks to his head.”
For her part, Jackson said in her Lifetime documentary “Janet” last year the malfunction “should not have happened,” adding that she turned down an offer from Timberlake to join him onstage when he returned to the Super Bowl in 2018 because she didn’t want to dredge up the past.
The 2004 incident led to an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission.
In 2018, Timberlake told Beats 1 host Zane Lowe he had “made peace” and moved past the drama from the show. Timberlake, who has since apologized, added that he “absolutely” took time with Jackson to “resolve the situation” and “make peace” after the debacle.
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