Janet Jackson Fans Roast Sports Illustrated for Misguided Super Bowl Story

Social media is dragging Sports Illustrated after the magazine published an article alleging that [...]

By Libby Birk

Social media is dragging Sports Illustrated after the magazine published an article alleging that "no one is angry" that Justin Timberlake took the stage at Super Bowl LII's halftime show.

The sports mag tweeted a link to the article published on Feb. 2 — two days before the Super Bowl — that commented on the fact Timberlake was invited back to perform at the big game despite the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" with Janet Jackson at at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004.

In the article, author Jack Dickey wrote that "no one with any cultural purchase" has sounded an alarm over Timberlake's performance — when in reality, many branded the day "Janet Jackson Appreciation Day" in protest of Timberlake's gig.

Several responded to Sports Illustrated's tweet, calling it out for "terrible journalism" and "fake news."

At one point on Super Bowl Sunday, the #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay hashtag (created by NFL-player-turned-filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry) was trending higher than the #SuperBowl hashtag, proving that quite a few people, were, in fact, angry about Timberlake's performance.

Among those who helped get the hashtag to trend have been CNN political analyst April Ryan, comedian Loni Love, Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox and Chance the Rapper.

While the day certainly turned into a general celebration of Jackson, 51, it began with the notion that many fans believed Jackson was unfairly blackballed from Super Bowl performances while Timberlake got off scot-free.

Twitter users have also responded with the viral hashtag, #JusticeForJanet, as users call out the privilege of Timberlake being asked to perform again, while Jackson was not.

Fans on Twitter weren't the only ones thinking Timberlake owes Jackson an apology.

"If he's such a gentleman, he'd make sure Janet [Jackson] is there," Joseph Jackson, Janet Jackson's father, told The New York Post.

Jackson wasn't the only reason some Super Bowl viewers found Timberlake's performance a little meh. The singer's tribute to the late Prince was also labeled as underwhelming and a little off center, considering the two had beef while Prince was alive.

Some wrote that Prince himself wouldn't have appreciated the tribute. "Prince didn't like Justin Timberlake... it's kind of rude to use his image for this performance," Affinity magazine tweeted about the Prince projection used during Timberlake's halftime set.

Yser Adam Best wrote, "Prince specifically said he didn't want that, right?"

"Too bad that Justin Timberlake couldn't have shown Prince respect when he was alive .....this tribute was crap," another Twitter user wrote.

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