Cast your mind back to 2004.
Britney Spears got married in Las Vegas on a whim, Sex and the City ended its six-year reign on television, and Gwyneth Paltrow gave birth to a daughter named after a piece of fruit.
Of course, it was also a year that welcome the term 'nipplegate' into the public's vernacular, following Janet Jackson's accidental breast exposure during the Super Bowl halftime. At the end of her performance, the 'Rock Your Body' singer ripped a panel off the star's PVC bodice.
Following criticism of Timberlake's recent support of the Time's Up initiative ,14 years after the incident, the singer has finally addressed the infamous 'wardrobe malfunction' in a new interview with Beats 1's Zane Lowe.
Speaking of the debacle, which was caught by 143.6 million viewers on live television, Timberlake held his hands up and admitted he 'stumbled through' the controversy following the faux pas.
'I had my wires crossed and it's just something that you have to look back on and go like, "OK, well you know, you can't change what's happened but you can move forward and learn from it"', he said, seemingly apologising for his lack of support for Jackson from the backlash she faced at the time.
While we're not quite sure what you can learn from said incident (don't be so aggressive with your dance moves or apply double layers of boob tape, perhaps?) Timberlake added that him and Jackson are now on good terms.
'I don't know that a lot of people know that [me and Janet made peace],' he said, ahead of his performance at this year's half-time show on Sunday 4 February.
'I mean I don't think it's my job to [discuss private conversations], because you value the relationships that you do have with people,' he added.
We'd just like to point out that following the incident - which was condemned as an act of public indecency - Jackson was unfairly vilified by the public, forced to apologise, take the blame for the exposure (which actually wasn't of her own doing), was fined, and blacklist by US radio, MTV and award shows that year.
Timberlake, meanwhile, made only an apology.
In an interview straight after the 2004 performance, the 36-year-old former N-Sync member also suggested the nudity was planned.
'It was fun. It was quick, slick, to the point,' he told Access Hollywood.
Jackson, however, made a more formal apology to the public, revealing Timberlake was only supposed to reveal her bra.
'It was not my intention that it went as far as it did,' she said. 'I apologise to anyone offended.'
At the time, many people called out the public's double standards in the treatment of the two singers.
Let's not forget that CBS withdrew Jackson's invitation to present at the 2004 Grammy Awards, while Timberlake attended and won two awards.
In a 2006 interview with MTV, the father-of-one half-heartedly admitted regret about his response following #Nipplegate.
'I'm part of a community that consider themselves artists. And if there was something I could have done in her defence that was more than I realised then, I would have. But the other half of me was like, "Wow. We still haven't found the weapons of mass destruction and everybody cares about this".'
Of course, news of his upcoming performance at the Super Bowl hasn't gone down too well with Jackson's fans.
At a time when misogyny, inequality and sexual harassment is at the forefront of public conversation, it's important to recognise the clear sexism and racism that followed the on-stage incident towards Jackson.
If the same was to occur at this year's halftime show, we wonder if the public and media would be so quick to shame and vilify a female performer.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
![los angeles, california april 16 zendaya arrives at the los angeles premiere of amazon mgm studios challengers at westwood village theater on april 16, 2024 in los angeles, california photo by steve granitzfilmmagic](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/zendaya-euphoria-return-6620d0645de97.jpg?crop=1.00xw:0.784xh;0,0.0402xh&resize=360:* "Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon MGM Studios "Challengers" - Arrivals")
