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(February 2, 2004) Pop singer Justin Timberlake shocked Super Bowl fans during his halftime duet with Janet Jackson when he delivered on his lyric "I'll get you naked by the end of this song" and tore off part of Jackson's dress, revealing her right breast on live national television. The incident lit up the CBS switchboard as angry parents phoned in to express their outrage and was quickly followed by apologies and claims by Timberlake that the whole thing was an unintended accident.

Viacom's MTV, which produced the halftime extravaganza, had promised that Jackson's performance would "shock and amaze," but execs at the one-time music channel backpedalled after Jackson's pierced nipple made its television debut, issuing a statement that read "The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, and completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it.

The National Football League issued its own statement denouncing the performance, saying "It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."

Meanwhile Timberlake tried to quell the storm surge with his own apology, calling the boob flash a "wardrobe malfunction" and claiming it was "not intentional and is regrettable." But the millions who've by now seen the performance are unlikely to believe the move was anything other than yet another outrageous stunt by publicity-hungry celebrities.