Shawn the Chart Guy here…According to Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times, federal judges today tossed out the $550,000 fine levied against CBS Corp. after Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly bared during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, ruling that the Federal Communications Commission “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in penalizing the network for a “fleeting image of nudity.”  Furthermore, Jackson and Justin Timberlake were considered “independent contractors” and not CBS employees, so the corporation was not liable.

I personally applaud the appeals court.  I always thought that it was unfair that the network and its affiliates were penalized for the singers’ “wardrobe malfunction,” because the network obviously didn’t know that they were going to do that.  The result was having hundreds of radio and TV stations keep a better grip on “unfortunate incidents.”  Today’s verdict might mean that hundreds of other indecency cases may be overturned as well.

I remember when I saw the game four years ago.  Being a fan of both artists, I was watching it, while the other guys at the Super Bowl party I was attending were either going to the bathroom or out smoking a cigarette.  The singers were performing Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” and when it got to the line “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” the “malfunction” happened.  I was shocked, but I wasn’t traumatized.  Of course, all of the guys who hadn’t been watching were kicking themselves later because they didn’t get to see some live nudity!  (The house I was at didn’t have TiVo.)  I have yet to run into a single person, much less a kid, who was scarred for life by seeing Janet’s body part on live TV.  I thought that the FCC overreacted…so I’m glad today’s decision happened.

I’m here to give you the chart stuff about each of these singers though.  Jackson has ten #1 hits, with the last one being “All for You” in 2001.  That year was also the last time she made the Top 10, with “Someone to Call My Lover.”  Her career was going downhill anyway, but the snafu didn’t help.  Timberlake, on the other hand, has since scored four #1 hits…three from his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, and one from a collaboration with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado (”Give it to Me”)…and has gotten accolades for his acting career.  He even got an Emmy Award for the “Saturday Night Live” digital short where he is giving a little bit of himself as a present in a box.  Much less to say…the controversy didn’t affect him at all (ironically, he was featured in a Super Bowl Pepsi commercial this year.)

What do you think of the appellate court decision?  Did the controversy affect Jackson’s career, or was it going south anyway?

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under FCC, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, The Chart Guy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.