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Lack of Red Lace Increases Red Tape: 2004 Super Bowl Scandal
by Lauren Gregory, posted October 2, 2007
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake stepped onto the stage of MTV’s 2004 Super Bowl halftime show to perform a duet for over 89.8 American viewers. The CBS broadcasted performance began routinely with all the gleaming lights, blaring music, and flashy dancers a viewer could want. The finale, however, ended with bare skin, shocked faces, and a mark on the timeline of historical media events.Deemed as the “wardrobe malfunction,” Timberlake in unison with his lyric “Gotta have you naked by the end of this song,” reached over to Jackson and pulled off a piece of her costume exposing her right breast highlighted by silver jewelry. This brief unmasking juncture led to debate and a series of stricter jurisdictions on salacious media.
The day after the Super Bowl, Jackson and Timberlake issued statements apologizing for the unrehearsed dance move which was only meant to reveal Jackson's red lace bra. Both artists also added that neither CBS or MTV had known about this aspect of the performance.
On the same day, Michael Powell, former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission and supporter of consolidating American media, ordered an investigation on the halftime show. Powell stressed that he, like many Americans, watched the show with family and inveighed against the scandal as an offense to children, a degradation to women, and a "deplorable incident on the nation's airwaves."
David Walsh, writer for the World Socialist Web Site, saw the defense of Powell as a semblance. Walsh criticized the protection of American families from “smut on television” as being a front to a intimidate the entertainment industry by forcing them to implement limitations thus assaulting "on free speech and democratic rights”.
Comparably, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue called the halftime show offensive, inappropriate, and embarrassing to which he warranted for a change in policy. Walsh criticized Tagliabue for hypocrisy because of the increase suggestion of violence in his business of football.
Amid scandal, the Super Bowl is the most expensive program for purchasing advertising. In 2004, 30 seconds of airtime cost $2.3 million and with consumer minds focused on associations, advertisers gave voice in the debate (Campbell, Martin, and Fabos 395). August A. Busch IV, president of Anheuser-Busch Inc. the top advertiser for the 2004 Super Bowl, attributed the “reassessment to the intense backlash against risqué content” due to the performance.
Adding to the wrangle was the fiscal matters of the scandal. The government unable to censor or interfere with program content due to the communication law can however punish broadcasters for indecency and profanity (Campbell, Martin, and Fabos 566). In September 2004, the FCC fined Viacom, the at the time owner of CBS and MTV, the max of $27,500 per station totaling $550,000 for violations of indecency. Viacom continues to appeal this fine claiming it had no knowledge of the incident and should not be held responsible.
Consequently to the rise in criticisms and indecency complaints, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 was created and increased the maximum fine to $325,000 per violation of FCC decency. In reaction, many networks implemented time delays of five minutes for live broadcasts. The ripple effect continued to NBC where an episode of "E.R." was edited days after after Jackson's exposure to cut out a scene that showed a patient’s breast. Moreover, the incident induced a clinching control over content by station owners and managers, where Viacom, who also owned the controversial radio show of Howard Stern, expanded their control making Stern leave and instead broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Sources
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabor. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass
Communication. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2006.
Timberlake, Justin. "Rock Your Body." Justified.
Jive, 2002.
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, Oct 16 2007, 8:36 AM EDT
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