Janet Jackson’s Family Still Fuming at Justin Timberlake Over Infamous Super Bowl Halftime Show

It seems fans on Twitter are not the only ones thinking Justin Timberlake owes Janet Jackson an apology.

“If he’s such a gentleman, he’d make sure Janet [Jackson] is there,” Joseph Jackson told The New York Post.

The singer’s father is not the only one who thinks that Timberlake should make amends for “Nipplegate” — the infamous 2004 Super Bowl scandal that bruised Jackson’s career, after a planned stunt turned into a costume malfunction, leaving her bare breast exposed to 140 million viewers.

Since it was announced that Timberlake would be performing the Super Bowl LII halftime show at the US bank stadium in Minneapolis, Twitter users have responded with the viral hashtag, #JusticeForJanet, as users call out the privilege of Timberlake being asked to perform again, while Jackson was not.

Timberlake has not hinted about including Jackson in his halftime show, although he recently told Beats 1 host Zane Lowe that the two had “absolutely” made peace.

But The New York Post reports that just because the singer has forgiven Timberlake for not standing up for her when she was vilified for the controversial wardrobe malfunction, she hasn’t forgotten.

“Justin’s solo career took off after that and Janet was blackballed,” one family member said. “He says they are good, but let’s see him prove it and bring her out.”

The 2004 Super Bowl controversy has led many conspiracy theorists to believe the incident was secretly planned by Jackson and Timberlake, but Jackson sources say that’s not at all what happened.

Jackson’s rep revealed that the plan wasn’t to fully expose her breast — only to partially rip her clothing to coincide with the “have you naked by the end of this song” line from their song “Rock Your Body.”

“Justin was supposed to pull away the rubber bustier to reveal a red lace bra. The garment collapsed and her breast was accidentally revealed,” her rep wrote in a statement.

According to The New York Post, Jackson told relatives that she was embarrassed and feared she’d never perform again after the Super Bowl controversy.

“Radio stations wouldn’t play her music. Her album, which was great, suffered,” the family member recalled. Billboard reported that Damita Jo, which was released a few months after the 2004 Super Bowl, was her worst-selling album over a 20-year span, despite receiving largely favorable reviews.

So devastating was the backlash, Jackson stopped attending family gatherings and shut out those closest to her. “She’d drive by [the family’s Encino estate] in her bright yellow Jeep. We’d see her but she’d keep going,” a second relative told The New York Post. “It was like she didn’t know what to do.”

It took two years before Timberlake would tell MTV News: “If you consider it 50-50, then I probably got 10 percent of the blame. I think America is harsher on women. I think America is unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”

Not long after that, Jackson admitted to Oprah Winfrey that while Timberlake had reached out to her, she wasn’t ready to reply.

“Friendship is very important to me, and certain things you just don’t do to friends,” she said. “In my own time, I’ll give him a call.”

When Winfrey asked if Timberlake had “left [her] out there hanging,” Jackson replied, “To a certain degree.” She added that all the blame had been put on “me, as opposed to us.”

Jackson family insiders reveal he had to ask a few times before Jackson finally agreed to quietly meet up with him a few years ago in Los Angeles. After talking for a while, the two patched up their differences.

However, the Jackson insider explained that, “Publicly, Janet will tell everyone she’s forgiven Justin, but privately, she’s reluctant to trust him. He’s reached out to her about doing some things together but I don’t think she’s ready for that. Is she still angry? No. She doesn’t wish him any ill will. Does she still think about it? Not all of the time, but certainly since he’s doing the halftime show again, it’s definitely been a dinner table topic.”

The insider said that more than anything, Jackson is disappointed. “[Timberlake] used to dig her but when it came to supporting her after what happened, he disappeared. That’s not too manly and she didn’t deserve that. Even if she’s chosen to forgive him, it doesn’t mean she’s gotten past how he didn’t man up.

“We believe [the Super Bowl is a chance for him to] show her . . . and the world that he was wrong. He should insist that she come out and do something even if it’s just him apologizing publicly in front of the whole stadium. It’s not too late.”