Many people on social media prepared for Super Bowl 2019 by focusing their attention away from football and toward the legendary Janet Jackson instead.
Reviving the hashtag #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay, people tweeted photos and videos of their favorite moments of Jackson. The concept was initially proposed last year by filmmaker and former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry.
Actress Gabrielle Union was one of the many people to join in, sharing a memory of meeting the “Rhythm Nation” icon for the first time.
“I didn’t think I looked cool enough to meet my hero,” the actress tweeted. “Yall, she got up, hugged me & told me she was proud of me. I. Died.”
Cherry began the hashtag last year for Super Bowl 2018, when Justin Timberlake performed the halftime show. Many Jackson fans criticized Timberlake, the NFL and CBS for Jackson’s absence from the performance.
Jackson and Timberlake performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, at which the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” occurred. Timberlake exposed Jackson’s breast on live television during the performance after he pulled off a piece of her costume.
Both performers have maintained the incident was unintended, but Jackson has publicly borne the brunt of the blame since. Les Moonves, former CEO and chairman of CBS has been accused of working to blacklist Jackson since the 2004 halftime show.
In what’s become a new tradition, Twitter users continued the Super Bowl celebration of Jackson, who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year.