Now that Britney has effectively been freed, FX and Hulu are following up their New York Times Presents documentary Framing Britney Spears with a deep dive into Janet Jackson’s ill-fated performance at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Entitled Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, the documentary will explore the events that went down that evening and the pop culture shift that followed.
In the off chance that you need a recap, Jackson found herself at the crux of a professional and personal crisis when she took the stage with Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl in 2004. Near the end of the halftime show, Timberlake briefly exposed Jackson’s breast to millions of viewers.
The move left Timberlake’s legacy intact, but unfairly tarnished Jackson’s for years to come. With rare footage and exclusive interviews with Jackson family members and several people behind the scenes at the Super Bowl, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson aims to contextualize the sexist and racist reactions to the faux pas, as well offer insight into how it shaped the music industry.
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The forthcoming documentary is directed and produced by Jodi Gomes, who previously directed A+E Networks’ The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty. Recently, The New York Times Presents also premiered Controlling Britney Spears, a follow-up to Framing that offers more details about Spears’ day-to-day life under her father’s conservatorship. In the height of Spears’ court case, Timberlake issued an apology to both her and Jackson: “I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” he wrote.
Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson premieres November 13th.
