It’s been more than four years since Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, in which the singer, with the help of Justin Timberlake, momentarily bared her right breast, but the resulting litigation just came to an end yesterday.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals overturned the Federal Communications Commissions’ fine of $550,000 against broadcaster CBS on Monday, calling the previous ruling capricious. Judges found the fine to be unjust on grounds that it broke from previous practice, and that the real parties at fault would have been Jackson and Timberlake, not the network.
A record-breaking 540,000 viewer complaints and weeks of media analysis prompted the F.C.C. to augment its enforcement of indecency rules, though each of the four halftime shows since have gone on without note.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals overturned the Federal Communications Commissions’ fine of $550,000 against broadcaster CBS on Monday, calling the previous ruling capricious. Judges found the fine to be unjust on grounds that it broke from previous practice, and that the real parties at fault would have been Jackson and Timberlake, not the network.
A record-breaking 540,000 viewer complaints and weeks of media analysis prompted the F.C.C. to augment its enforcement of indecency rules, though each of the four halftime shows since have gone on without note.
