Sex & Society

Janet Jackson's breast-baring wardrobe malfunction on CBS during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show will not cost $550,000 from an indecency fine leveled at the station by the Federal Communications Commission. A federal appeals court has thrown the case out stating the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously."

An estimated 90 million people watched as Justin Timberlake reached for Jackson's bustier and accidentally pulled it open revealing her boob.

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said he was "surprised by today's decision and disappointed for families and parents. ... I continue to believe that this incident was inappropriate."

"Like any agency, the FCC may change its policies without judicial second-guessing," the court said. "But it cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."

"The court agreed with us: the FCC's inconsistent and unexplained departure from prior decisions leaves artists and journalists confused as to what is, and is not, permissible," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman of the Media Access Project who filed a brief to the court concerning the case.

Tim Winter of  Parents Television Council attacked the decision. "If a striptease during the Super Bowl in front of 90 million people — including millions of children — doesn't fit the parameters of broadcast indecency, then what does?" Winter said. Breasts scare him.

Let's hope this opens the door to more wardrobe malfunctions, preferably below the belt. But next time it's Timberlake's turn.

Comments: