The infamous 2004 Super Bowl performance of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake surprisingly became news again recently after the documentary Framing Britney Spears aired. It led to Timberlake coming forward after many years and apologizing to both Spears and Jackson for his treatment of them and failure to speak up for them at the time, but now a celebrity stylist who worked with Jackson for that Super Bowl appearance is alleging that Timberlake was responsible for the wardrobe malfunction seen around the world.
Stylist Wayne Scot Lukas was a part of Janet Jackson's team and helped her get ready for her performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. Scot Lukas was tasked with making sure Jackson had the desired look for the event, and he's now saying that Justin Timberlake supposedly orchestrated the "wardrobe malfunction" which led to a lot of trouble for Jackson, telling Page Six:
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...the outfit changed a couple of days before, and you saw the magic. 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.
According to Wayne Scot Lukas, the original plan for Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake was still for him to end up "accidentally" revealing a part of her body to the millions of viewers, but the exposed body part went from her butt to her breast a couple of days before the game. Scot Lukas didn't say who came up with first, bottom-baring idea, but he does claim that this change was made because of Timberlake.
I'm sure you're wondering why Timberlake would, reportedly, want to make such a change, especially when the performance was already going to have some shock value with Jackson's butt becoming a known, public quantity. Well, let's take you back in time a bit further, to the 2003 MTV VMAs. You might not be able to remember what happened there off of the top of your head, so I'll refresh your memory. The ceremony was broadcast in late August, and featured a performance with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna which got the whole world talking. That's right, this was when both younger pop stars kissed the legend on stage, and brought themselves a lot of attention.
From what Wayne Scot Lukas said in his interview, Timberlake, who had been broken up from Spears for a bit before the VMAs, wanted his and Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance to be able to top that scandalous three-way kiss. Scot Lukas also didn't detail what those conversations were like, but, according to him, the initial choice to go with something more salacious rested on Timberlake's shoulders because he "insisted on doing something bigger than their performance. He wanted a reveal."
Of course, fans will probably know that Jackson ended up taking the brunt of the heat for the moment, with Timberlake never really appearing to stand up for her, whether he did actually plan the moment or not. And, this is what led to his recent apology for playing into a system which "condones misogyny and racism," and because of now understanding his "ignorance" sees that his "actions contributed to the problem."
A source who is said to be familiar with the Super Bowl incident refuted the claim made by Wayne Scot Lukas, and, for her part, Janet Jackson only responded to Timberlake's apology by thanking fans for their continued support, so we may never hear anything else from her on the matter.
