After a fair bit of speculation, Justin Timberlake has revealed himself as the headlining act at upcoming Super Bowl LII halftime show – a casual fourteen years after the muso made international headlines by revealing duet partner Janet Jackson’s nipple at Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Timberlake made the announcement with a typically saccharine video featuring long-time telly partner Jimmy Fallon, a potential signal that Timberlake will keep it PG this time around.
I DO have the time. Half the time…#PepsiHalftime #SBLII @Pepsi @NFL @JimmyFallon @FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/4Z4Dz29l3X
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) October 23, 2017
It’ll be the first time since 2004 that Timberlake will perform at the NFL’s biggest game, which is apparently long enough for broadcasters to simmer down over the $700,000 fine levelled against CBS for the nipple incident.
That fine was eventually voided after a 2011 court decision, and Timberlake’s career hasn’t seemed to suffer too drastically.
However, it is worth noting that in the intervening years, Janet Jackson was effectively blacklisted from MTV – who produced the halftime show in question. It’s been argued that exclusion from a stack of media entities contributed to her loss of prominence in the pop culture landscape.
So, it’ll be interesting to see if Timberlake addresses that one at all. Catch y’all on February 4 next year to find out.
