Janet Jackson Stylist: Justin Timberlake 'Insisted' On Wardrobe Malfunction
By Hayden Brooks
April 12, 2021
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's infamous 2004 Super Bowl appearance is still making headlines years later.
In a new interview with Page Six, Jackson’s stylist, who prepped her look that evening, claimed that JT pushed for the "wardrobe malfunction" an in attempt to outdo Britney Spears' onstage smooth with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards a few months earlier.
"[He] insisted on doing something bigger than their performance. He wanted a reveal," Wayne Scot Lukas admitted, adding that the concept for Jackson's outfit was initially different. The singer was set to appear in a pearl G-string inspired by one of Kim Cattrall's Sex and the City episodes. "Janet was going to be in a Rocha dress, and [Justin] was going to step on the back of her dress to reveal her butt in this pearl G-string, [but] the outfit changed a couple of days before, and you saw the magic."
As we saw, Timberlake ended up tearing off one of her breast plates, which saw Jackson expose her nipple ring. The pair deemed the issue a "wardrobe malfunction," but Scot Lukas went on to allude that the reveal went exactly as planned. "I wouldn't call it a wardrobe 'malfunction' in a million years. It was the most functioning wardrobe in history. As a stylist, it did what it was intended to do," he explained.
Scot Lukas plans to spill more details in his retelling of the incident in his upcoming tell-all book, but one thing he's made clear is Jackson's heart in the whole debacle. "Janet has already forgiven Justin in private. They made their peace a long time ago," he said. "I'll never throw her under the bus. She’s my friend and is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever worked for. There’s nothing shady about her."
Earlier this year, Timberlake's name was tossed into headlines after Framing Britney Spears highlighted his poor reaction to the pop pair's breakup. After its air date, JT's behavior after the Super Bowl incident also made waves on Twitter. "I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed," the former boy band member wrote in the lengthy statement.
Photo: Getty Images