Tom Brady’s getting an offensive penalty on this one.
The football legend made a pretty ignorant comment about Janet Jackson’s infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction that severely affected her career.
On an episode of Brady’s “Let’s Go!” podcast Tuesday, the retired quarterback admitted that football players are usually too focused on the game to check out halftime shows. Brady, who was playing for the New England Patriots during the 2004 Super Bowl, admitted he had no idea Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Jackson’s corset and exposed her breast during the halftime show until after the game was over.
“[The media was] asking me about that. I couldn’t even understand what they were telling me about,” Brady said in a conversation that begins about 28 minutes into the episode. “They said, ‘Did you see the halftime show?’ and I said, ‘I didn’t see anything.’ I was thinking about the game.”
And this is when Brady fumbles his take on the situation, which was dubbed “Nipplegate” at the time.
“I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows,” Brady said. “Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so, who knows?”
Super Bowl 2004’s broadcaster CBS, halftime show producer MTV and Jackson issued apologies for the wardrobe malfunction. Jackson’s spokesperson at the time explained that Timberlake was meant to “pull away the bustier and leave the red-lace bra” and that the exposure of most of her breast was “not intentional,” per CNN.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell also noted to CNN at the time that he did not believe the incident was accidental.
“Clearly somebody had knowledge of it. Clearly it was something that was planned by someone,” he said. “She probably got what she was looking for.”
Jackson’s career took a hit after the incident, with the media vilifying her despite the malfunction being an error on Timberlake’s part.
In her 2022 Lifetime documentary, Jackson indicated that she’d rather forget the incident ever happened, and that Timberlake offered to “speak up,” per Variety.
“We talked once and Justin said, ‘I don’t know if I should speak up and make a statement.’ And then I was like, ‘Look, I don’t want any drama for you. If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything,’” Jackson said. “Justin and I are very good friends and we always will be. We talked a few days ago. He and I have moved on and it’s time for everyone to do the same.”