The FCC Owes Damita Jo Reparations

In a “Too Little, Too Late” report, former FCC chairman Michael Powell has acknowledged that maybe, just maybe the agency he used to run should not have acted as if Janet Jackson’s wayward nipple almost destroyed civilization when it rushed the stage at the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Reflecting on the now decade-old controversy, Powell said in ESPN The Magazine’s Music Issue: “I think we’ve been removed from this long enough for me to tell you that I had to put my best version of outrage on that I could put on. Part of it was surreal, right? Look, I think it was dumb to happen, and they knew the rules and were flirting with them, and my job is to enforce the rules, but you know, really? This is what we’re gonna do?”

If you recall, the FCC fined CBS $550,00 for the incident – the largest fine in history at the time. Those fines were ultimately tossed out in 2012.

At the time Powell said of the incident: “We all as a society have a responsibility as to what the images and messages our children hear when they’re likely to be watching television.” He went on to whine about “the basic concepts of common decency.

So while it’s nice and all for Powell to essentially admit that he had to put on a performance – i.e. I AM SO DIGSUSTED BY THIS BLACK NIPPLE – the fact remains that Janet Jackson’s career never recovered from the backlash he and others created in order to save their asses from the sexually repressed wing of America and their letter-writing campaign. Even now, all I can think about Michael Powell is that he’d probably make a solid guest star on Scandal.

Meanwhile, we all know how this turned out for Justin Timberlake, the one who actually presented Janet’s nipple to viewers. He kissed every ass cheek of importance within a 10 mile radius in a seven day span and made sure that his still ... be spared. Only years later would he, too, admit, that Janet deserved better. Timberlake said to Entertainment Weekly in 2009, “I wish I had supported Janet more. I’m not sorry I apologized, but I wish I had been there more for Janet.”

http://www.clutchmagonlin...parations/