Pop star Justin Timberlake said Wednesday he was "shocked," "appalled and embarrassed" that Janet Jackson's breast was flashed to 100 million US television viewers when he ripped off her bodice on stage.
As Timberlake denied any responsibility for the incident that has sparked outrage across America, Jackson made a contrite public apology for the over-exposure that has also garnered her unprecedented publicity.
And, as the "Nipplegate" scandal shook the country amid a federal indecency investigation, the ABC television network said it would delay the live broadcast of this year's Oscars ceremony to avoid similar antics.
The 23-year-old singer Timberlake broke his public silence on the incident, which took place during a half-time performance at Sunday's football Super Bowl, saying that if it was stunt, he had nothing to do with it.
"When what happened, happened, I was completely shocked and appalled," he told Los Angeles' CBS 2 News.
The all-American singer said that, according to a plan devised by Jackson and her choreographer earlier Sunday, he was to pull on the bustier and expose her red lace bra, not her naked breast, covered only by an ornate nipple-cap.
"It was, `Oh my God, oh my God.' I was completely embarrassed. I don't feel like I need publicity like that and I wouldn't want to be involved in a stunt, especially not a stunt of this magnitude," he said.
Jackson took the blame for the incident, which has led to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigation into whether indecency regulations had been breached.
The younger sister of troubled pop superstar Michael Jackson released a video-taped statement in which she declared: "I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention."
Her previous statements of regret came through a spokesman and followed expressions of outrage from the National Football League, broadcaster CBS and the half-time show's producer MTV.
"My decision to change the Super Bowl performance was actually made after the final rehearsal. MTV, CBS, the NFL had no knowledge of this whatsoever, and unfortunately, the whole thing went wrong in the end," Jackson said.
The display of flesh after singer Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bodice during the Super Bowl show last Sunday has generated more Internet traffic than even the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to a survey released Wednesday.
There has been much speculation about how far the pair had rehearsed. MTV has a tape of the rehearsal but has no plans to show it, network spokeswoman Marnie Black said.
"The tape won't be released," she insisted.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing