On Monday morning, Page Six reported that Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl appearance is getting the Framing Britney Spears documentary treatment, as the paper called it. They're reporting that the production company responsible for the Britney documentary is reaching out to everyone who was involved in the headline-making halftime show from 17 years ago, in an attempt to spotlight the "the suits who fucked over Janet," a source claimed.
That includes Justin Timberlake, the main character from that infamous incident that — and of course you know this — exposed Janet's bare breast, which you know, she got all the blame for and Justin got all high-fives for.
Neither Janet nor Justin has confirmed or denied their participation in the supposed documentary, but if you're keeping track at home — and of course you are — if this documentary happens, it would make the second time that Timberlake's actions from the early two-thou are being re-evaluated through a 2021 lens.
(I reached out to Left/Right TV, the production company supposedly working on the doc, to learn if the rumor is true. Will update if I hear back.)
After the Framing Britney Spears came out, Justin apologized to Britney and to Janet. On Instagram he wrote:
I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed. I also feel compelled to respond, in part, because everyone involved deserves better and most importantly, because this is a larger conversation that I wholeheartedly want to be part of and grow from.
Did you catch that? Did you catch that he said that he "wholeheartedly wants to be a part of" this larger conversation? He also wrote that he "can do better and will do better."
Learning from the past is important. Learning how the media plays a part, how white privilege plays a part, how misogyny plays a part ... it's invaluable to look back at what we were ingesting and egesting just 15-20 years ago. The time-travel re-evaluation can tell us a lot about how far we've come and how far we have to go when it comes to fairly and equitably treating the disenfranchised.
But heads up, Justin: you said you wanted to be a part of the conversation, so if this documentary about your halftime show comes to fruition, will you participate? What's that lyric, again? "What goes around, goes around, goes around, comes all the way back again"? Yeah, that's it.
Image: Screenshot