Tom Brady might regret his thoughts on the 2004 “nipplegate” at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
For those who need a refresher on the incident, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were on stage performing his hit song Rock Your Body when he suddenly ripped part of Janet’s costume and exposed her breast to millions of viewers. Following the incident, the 56-year-old singer took most of the blame and backlash for years – which greatly impacted her career. A Hulu documentary, titled Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, even suggested former CBS head exec Les Moonves stopped her from getting opportunities and derailed her career after she refused to apologize to him in person for the scandal.
Related: Tom Claims He Didn’t Know What A ‘Thirst Trap’ Was Before Posting Underwear Pic
Meanwhile, Justin carried on in the industry with no problem. It wasn’t until 2021 that he even apologized to Janet and Britney Spears after facing backlash following the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary. The 42-year-old actor said at the time:
“I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism. I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Now, here is where Tom comes into the picture years later. Despite Janet facing so much scrutiny, the former football player brushed off the whole wardrobe malfunction incident, saying it was a “good thing.” Tom remarked on the Monday episode of his Let’s Go! podcast:
“I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it. It was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows. Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so who knows?”
Is he seriously saying the situation was great publicity for the NFL, a male-led sport, even though it came at the expense of a woman’s career and reputation?! F**ked up, dude. Unsurprisingly, people on social media slammed Tom for being insensitive to everything the Rhythm Nation artist went through. See some of the Twitter reactions (below):
“Janet Jackson faced public humiliation and outright misogynoir resulting in her getting blacklisted by the former CEO of CBS, but Tom Brady thinks all of that was ok because all publicity is good publicity. Sick.”
“Tom Brady: ‘Janet Jackson was good for the NFL, because it had people talking about it.’ F’d up thing to say. She was black listed from so many media outlets, award shows, MTV, VH1 Etc… She was the scapegoat for it all, but yeah, go ahead Tom shoutout the NFL for benefiting.”
“I guess to hell with what @JanetJackson went through, right @TomBrady?”
“I don’t think he understands the amount of shit she went through after that backlash. That comment was too superficial and shallow.”
“So a black woman’s career and reputation is damaged and she was taunted for a number of years by the mainstream media but you know what, it was good for the NFL?! Clearly too many knocks to his head.”
“????? He should be ashamed for treating Janet’s trauma like that.”
“Janet’s career and legacy was nearly DESTROYED due to the incident, and the ONLY thing Tom Brady can speak on NOW after 19 years is the publicity of the NFL?”
Tom hasn’t addressed the backlash, but here’s hoping he takes a moment to learn and understand why what he said was messed up before issuing some sort of statement. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube, Lifetime/YouTube, MEGA/WENN]
The post Tom Brady Blasted For Saying Janet Jackson’s Infamous Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction Was ‘Good’ For The NFL! appeared first on Perez Hilton.