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More reaction to Janet Jackson

CBS Television has apologized for the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake incident during the Super Bowl halftime show, and claimed that it had no foreknowledge that the event was in the works. CBS Television released the following statement: "CBS deeply regrets the incident that occurred during the Super Bowl halftime show. We attended all rehearsals throughout the week and there was no indication that any such thing would happen. The moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended."

More statements:

MTV: "The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it."

Justin Timberlake: "I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the Halftime performance of the Super Bowl It was not intentional and is regrettable."

NFL: "We were extremely disappointed by elements of the MTV-produced Halftime show. They were totally inconsistent with assurances our office was given about the show. It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."

However, both Variety and Matt Drudge were citing anonymous sources which claimed that CBS did in fact know about the stunt in advance. MTV promoted the halftime show in advance, promising shocking moments from Jackson.

Which leads to this from Parents Television Council President Brent Bozell: "Despite promises from MTV that the live half-time show would feature something outlandish, CBS took no steps to prevent Justin Timberlake from exposing the breast of mega-pop-star Janet Jackson during the live performance. The performance, including the offensive material, was obviously scripted. In fact Jackson's people promised there would be 'shocking moments' in the performance. We find Justin Timberlake's apology and explanation to be dishonest and disingenuous.

Refusing to accept apologies from CBS or MTV, Bozell said, "MTV is known for exactly this type of conduct. MTV and CBS are both owned by Viacom. Whether or not CBS executives did or did not know in advance is irrelevant; Viacom executives had the duty to know."

Bozell applauded the FCC's rapid plans for a investigation. He urged that sanctions apply to each and every CBS affiliate, and that license revocations be considered in the event of a repeat incident. He also called for CBS to give a refund to every company that bought an ad during the telecast.

The incident comes at a bad time for Viacom/CBS. It is already sitting on a $357.5K fine levied for the Opie & Anthony "Sex for Sam" contest which resulted in the infamous St. Patrick's Cathedral incident during the summer of 2002 (11/20/03 RBR Daily Epaper #228).

To top it off, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet just last week (1/29/04 RBR Daily Epaper #18) held a session on indecency called "Can you Say That on TV?" Many of the committee members indicated on that occasion that they wanted some network executives to come to Capitol Hill to explain themselves. The subcommittee has promised to hold another indecency session soon, and we won't be surprised to see more of the same on the Senate side.

CBS has not yet responded to our call for comment.

RBR observation:

We have a hard time swallowing the claims of Justin Timberlake and MTV that exposing Janet Jackson's breast on live TV was purely an accident. Her costume was clearly designed to come apart just as it did. And if she was not expecting to have that part of her costume removed, why on earth would she have been wearing that metal "pastie" underneath - - something that had to be uncomfortable while dancing in a tight costume. The question to be answered is who, besides Jackson and Timberlake, knew what was going to happen? But while the FCC can demand cooperation from CBS in investigating the incident, it's doubtful that the Commission has any leverage to get Jackson and Timberlake to cooperate. We would note, though, that Virgin Records was ready to fire off a promo of Jackson's latest single to radio stations moments after the halftime stunt. Perhaps that would be a good place to ask some questions.