Janet Jackson 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Fine Dropped
Posted July 22, 2008 
Four and a half years after 90 million SuperBowl viewers saw Janet Jackson's breast for a fraction of a second, a federal court has finally forgiven the so-called wardrobe malfunction.
CBS execs were hit with an $550,000 indecency fine after Jackson and fellow halftime show performer Justin Timberlake gave a choreographed performance in which Timberlake pulled at Jackson's top and exposed the pop star's bare chest. Days after the incident Timberlake was joking about the malfunction while hosting the ESPY Awards. On the other hand Jackson seemed to take all the heat and was virtually blackballed from network and cable television.
According to reports, the judges of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the split-second image of nudity.
Though the performers have always maintained that the exposure was an accident, the court of public opinion determined otherwise. Their denials weren't help by the timing of the malfunction, which occurred just as Timberlake sang the line, "gonna have you naked by the end of this song." The former boybander just then ripped open Jackson's bodice revealing a right breast with a star-shaped pasty covering the nipple. She very quickly covered up.
The court said the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience." according the Washington Post.
"Like any agency, the FCC may change its policies without judicial second-guessing," the court explained. "But it cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."
Four and a half years after 90 million SuperBowl viewers saw Janet Jackson's breast for a fraction of a second, a federal court has finally forgiven the so-called wardrobe malfunction.
CBS execs were hit with an $550,000 indecency fine after Jackson and fellow halftime show performer Justin Timberlake gave a choreographed performance in which Timberlake pulled at Jackson's top and exposed the pop star's bare chest. Days after the incident Timberlake was joking about the malfunction while hosting the ESPY Awards. On the other hand Jackson seemed to take all the heat and was virtually blackballed from network and cable television.
According to reports, the judges of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the split-second image of nudity.
Though the performers have always maintained that the exposure was an accident, the court of public opinion determined otherwise. Their denials weren't help by the timing of the malfunction, which occurred just as Timberlake sang the line, "gonna have you naked by the end of this song." The former boybander just then ripped open Jackson's bodice revealing a right breast with a star-shaped pasty covering the nipple. She very quickly covered up.
The court said the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience." according the Washington Post.
"Like any agency, the FCC may change its policies without judicial second-guessing," the court explained. "But it cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."
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