FCC Stands Firm on Fine For 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show

2004 was a very important year in US history. It was the year the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino and George W. won a second term in office. But most importantly, 2004 was the year of the infamous Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction. After Janet Jackson’s right breast was exposed during the halftime show, the FCC slapped a heavy fine on CBS. CBS and the FCC have been legally bickering over it ever since. On Wednesday the network lost its second appeal to have the $550,000 fine thrown out.

The long and short of it is that CBS is claiming they didn’t know Justin was going to rip Janet’s shirt and expose her creepy nipple shield to the world. They also claim that it shouldn’t fall under the grounds of “indecent” according to today’s standards.

The FCC’s official statement was posted in a press release on their website “The Commission affirms its finding that CBS’ violation was willful and declines to reduce the forfeiture imposed upon CBS. Finally, the Commission rejects CBS’ argument that the FCC’s indecency framework is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, both on its face and as applied to the halftime show."

The Super Bowl incident inspired congress to propose an increase in fines on similar violations as a way to discourage other networks from testing the boundaries of what might be considered “indecent”.