Toronto Star

Janet, Justin made peace after ‘Nipplegate’

Timberlake says controvers­y was topic of discussion when asked to return this year

- PETER SBLENDORIO

Justin Timberlake managed to restore harmony with Janet Jackson after the duo was involved in the biggest controvers­y in Super Bowl halftime history.

Timberlake — who’s slated to headline the halftime show again at this year’s NFL title game — says he and Jackson made peace after he infamously tore away a portion of her costume during their Super Bowl performanc­e in 2004, exposing her breast.

“Absolutely,” Timberlake told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of making peace with Jackson. “And I don’t know that a lot of people know that.” The scandalous moment — which is widely referred to as Nipplegate — sparked a hullabaloo at the time, with some people speculatin­g the incident was a publicity stunt, while others believed it was an accident.

MTV, which produced the halftime show, asserted at the time that the incident was unintentio­nal.

Timberlake, who previously assured a similar scandal won’t happen at this year’s show, told Lowe that Nipplegate was a topic of discussion when the NFL selected him to return for a second Super Bowl performanc­e.

At the time, some people speculated the incident was a publicity stunt, while others believed it was an accident

“To be honest, it wasn’t too much of a conversati­on,” he said. “It’s just one of those things where you go, like, ‘Yeah, what do you want me to say? We’re not going to do that again!’ ”

Super Bowl LII takes place Feb. 4 at Minneapoli­s’s U.S. Bank Stadium. Timberlake is slated to release a new album two days before the big game.

Pop star Pink is set to perform the national anthem.

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