Janet Jackson's Super Bowl Stylist Claims Singer's Nip Slip Was Intentional: 'Wardrobe Malfunction? I Don't Malfunction'
Nov. 23 2021, Published 4:56 p.m. ET
The stylist who put together the ensemble that somehow derailed Janet Jackson's career is speaking out and defending his name.
Wayne Scot Lukas decked out the now-55-year-old pop star in that infamous black number for her 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show alongside Justin Timberlake, who – at the very end of their Rock Your Body performance – ripped off part of Janet's top, which briefly exposed her right breast.
"I was a work-for-hire. I was hired to do a job. I did exactly what I was supposed to do," Lukas told Access Hollywood, 17 years after the viral moment.
"If I work with someone who's a dancer, you have to be able to dance in a wardrobe, and it has to never fall apart. My job is to have snaps and pins and velcro so that, even in her quick change, if she forgets to snap something, it stays on. That's my job," he explained. "I stand 100 percent by my story that I did exactly what I was supposed to do, what I was hired for."
"And if I ever hurt my friend, I wouldn't have worked with Janet for six years after the Super Bowl," he added. "I would've been fired that day."
When it comes to the former NSYNC frontman, however, there is definitely some bad blood.
"We haven't spoken since he blamed me," Lukas said, pointing to comments Timberlake made immediately after the performance. "He came off the stage and said, 'It's just a little wardrobe malfunction. We all want to give you something to [talk] about.'"
"And when he said that, I thought, 'Friendship over. Friendship over! Wardrobe malfunction? I don't malfunction. I was a professional stylist, [charging] $10,000 a day back then. I can't fail! Why did you say that?'" wondered Lukas.
He insisted that the show's producers did not cut away from the moment fast enough, telling Access, "You were never supposed to see a movement where a breast was out, a body part was out. It was never supposed to be lingering on something that they say was this terrible thing for such a long time. They were supposed to cut to black. You were supposed to get the idea of 'I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song.' Nobody was supposed to be naked."
Lukas said that was the first time he'd ever said that publicly. "Somebody didn't push the button. Somebody didn't protect my friend," he claimed, going on to reveal that everyone had run through a taped dress rehearsal beforehand.
"No one knows this. You ready for this? When you do the Super Bowl [halftime show], this is the secret, you shoot it twice," he said. "You shoot the performance twice because the first time you shoot it, you shoot it in case the satellite goes down and they have to cut to the original rehearsal."
"So they had a second performance that the minute that happened, they could've pushed the button and cut to the tape," he said. "And they didn't."
In response to the claim, Salli Frattini, who worked on said halftime show, told Access, "This is a false statement as per all of my comments previously written and now broadcast."
Frattini also appears in the recently debuted documentary, Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, which is the latest installment in FX's The New York Times Presents series.
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Lukas has previously said that Timberlake actually pushed for the shocking moment in an attempt to outdo his ex-girlfriend, Britney Spears, who had just shared an on-screen kiss with Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards a few months prior.
Earlier this year, after his involvement in the media's portrayal of Spears was called into question amid her conservatorship battle, Justin issued an apology to both Britney and Janet.
"I've seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond. 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 on social media. "I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism."
He added, "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 have failed."
