Disgraced CBS boss Les Moonves 'set out to destroy' Janet Jackson after Nipplegate

Telegraph Reporters
Updated
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake perform during the 2004 Super Bowl - AP
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake perform during the 2004 Super Bowl - AP

In the years that have passed since "Nipplegate", the 2004 Super Bowl that involved Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and a "wardrobe malfunction", many have come to wonder why Jackson – a superstar in her prime – subsequently disappeared from the spotlight while then-newcomer Timberlake only seemed to triumph.

Reports have now emerged that suggest that Jackson was at the centre of a campaign by disgraced CBS chief executive Les Moonves, who was furious that Jackson hadn't offered enough of an apology for the incident to him.

According to The Huffington Post, Moonves ordered VHI, MTV and all Viacom-owned radio stations (at the time, Viacom was the parent company of CBS), to stop playing Jackson's songs and music videos. This had a huge impact on sales of Damita Jo, the album that was released a month after the Super Bowl, and which the event was partially promoting. 

CBS and MTV, which produced the halftime show, were internationally criticised and faced a $550,000 Federal Communications Commission fine. While Jackson was made to give an apology, this reportedly wasn't enough for Moonves, who was convinced that the stunt was intentional. Both she and Timberlake were banned from the subsequent Grammy performance, but because the former N*Sync star made a tearful apology to Moonves, he was allowed to perform, according to the website. 

The Huffington Post spoke to several anonymous CBS insiders who "felt strongly that Moonves played a large part in how Jackson was perceived by the public."

Moonves was also incensed when, several years after the halftime show, Jackson signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster, a publishing house that is also owned by Viacom.  He told another HuffPost source that heads were going to roll as a result of the deal.

A spokesperson for CBS declined to comment.

Moonves is currently negotiating a multi-million-dollar exit from CBS. In July, The New Yorker reported that six women had made claims of sexual assault and unwanted advances against Moonves spanning a time period between 1985 and 2006.