One of the biggest wardrobe malfunctions of all time is beginning to become one of the most expensive; the incident that exposed pop superstar Janet Jackson’s breast during the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast has been appealed to the US Supreme Court.
In case you don’t remember (it still feels like yesterday!) Janet Jackson, the youngest sister of the late Michael Jackson, was performing live at the Super Bowl in 2004 when fellow pop star Justin Timberlake tore off her bustier, exposing her breast for a fraction of a second to some 90 million viewers.
CBS apologized for the incident but in 2004 it was ordered to pay the fine, the stiffest penalty the agency could levy against the network.
Court documents showed the Federal Communications asked the top US court to reimpose the fine on CBS television network in the long-running legal battle over indecency broadcast standards. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) levied the $550,000 fine against CBS in 2006 for breaking indecency rules during a halftime performance by Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League.
CBS appealed the fine and the case has wound its way through the courts since then. But the FCC says in its request to the Supreme Court that “no such exemption has ever existed” for nudity, although there may be an exemption for isolated uses of expletives. It said other cases involving Fox and ABC television also support the FCC decision.
Have you made up your mind as to whether it was a wardrobe malfunction on a publicity stunt? Either way CBS seems to be the only red face in this situation – As for Jackson, it only made her more popular and as you know, in Hollywood – publicity is everything.
With the combined star power of Delta Goodrem, Seal, Keith Urban and Joel Madden on singing program, The Voice, it is little wonder that the judges and contestants are now storming the ARIA charts.
The Voice’s effect on the top 50 singles and albums has been immediate, with coach Delta Goodrem debuting at No.2 with her comeback single Sitting On The Top Of The World.
After only four days of sales, breakthrough contestant Rachael Leahcar leapt into the No.18 slot with her revelatory rendition of La Vie En Rose. Big-lunged blues singer Karise Eden landed at No.41 with her thrilling treatment of It’s A Man’s World. Neither of the contestants should start counting the cash just yet, with the royalties from the performances going to The Voice’s stakeholders.
Keith Urban and Seal are also reaping the rewards of the show with Seal’s Kiss from a Rose re-entering the charts at at No.31 and his Hits collection into No.24 on the album chart. Keith Urban’s run at the top of iTunes this week – his first at the summit on the Australian pop charts – pushed his Greatest Hits: 18 Kids compilation into No.21 on the ARIA chart.
Are you addicted to The Voice yet?
