Tom Brady has found himself in hot water this week after saying that the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show wardrobe malfunction that occurred back in 2004 was “probably a good thing” for the NFL.
“It was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows. Is any publicity bad publicity?”
— Tom Brady on Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/NcTEPTT3B9
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 15, 2023
Brady Sounds Off
Brady made these comments on his “Let’s Go!” podcast while talking about Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance from this past weekend.
“She’s a great performer,” Brady said of Rihanna. “Been at it for a long time, and she just blows everyone away all the time. She’s one of the unique performers – It’s great to see people on that stage too ’cause I think that stage of the Super Bowl is reserved for a lot of special people… they’re tough to top.”
Though Brady admitted that he rarely paid attention to the halftime shows when he was playing in the Super Bowl because he was focused on the game, he’s never forgotten the chaos that ensued after Justin Timberlake ripped off a part of Jackson’s top during their 2004 performance.
Brady recalled that after the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers that year, “We came off the field and that was when we had the wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson and they were asking me about that, and I couldn’t understand what they were telling me.”
“They’re like, ‘Did you see the halftime show? Blah, blah, blah,’ and I’m like ‘No, I didn’t see anything. I was thinking about the game,'” he added.
Brady went on to say that the Jackson incident was a “good thing” in the end for the NFL “because it got everybody to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows. Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so who knows.”
Tom Brady says Janet Jackson’s 2004 wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl was “probably a good thing for the NFL”:
“It was more publicity.” pic.twitter.com/I7lq0jJkpG
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) February 15, 2023
Related: Tom Brady Breaks Down As He Retires ‘For Good’ Three Months After Divorce From Gisele Bündchen
Brady Hit With Backlash
Unfortunately for Brady, however, social media users have not taken kindly to his comments about Jackson.
“He should be ashamed for treating Janet’s trauma like that,” one social media user commented, with another adding, “I don’t think he understands the amount of s— she went through after that backlash. That comment was too superficial and shallow.”
“Janet’s career and legacy was nearly DESTROYED due to the incident, and the ONLY thing Tom Brady can speak on NOW after 19 years is the publicity of the NFL?” a third user wrote.
Other social media users got in on the action as well:
Janet Jackson faced public humiliation and outright misogynoir resulting in her getting blacklisted by the former CEO of CBS, but Tom Brady thinks all of that was ok because all publicity is good publicity. Sick. https://t.co/1kcerS34Wc
— 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚌𝚊 ⚡️ (@MJFINESSELOVER) February 14, 2023
“So a Black woman’s career and reputation is damaged and she was taunted for a number of years by the mainstream media, but you know what, it was good for the NFL?!” https://t.co/oYFaZv7VFa
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/btrendsnews/status/1625887730633678848
Related: Tom Brady ‘Talked’ To Ex-Wife Gisele Bündchen Before Retiring For Second Time
Brady Declines To Comment
Brady declined to comment when contacted by Fox News about this controversy. This comes one year after Jackson said that the infamous wardrobe malfunction “should not have happened,” adding that she refused an offer to perform with Timberlake again at the 2018 Super Bowl because she did not want to relive the trauma of what happened fourteen years before.
As for Timberlake, he’s publicly apologized and said that he “absolutely” took time with Jackson to “resolve the situation” and “make peace” after the incident.
Brady has been in the news quite a lot recently, as he only just retired from the NFL after a 23 year career. It remains to be seen if he’ll respond to the latest backlash that he’s receiving over his comments about Jackson.