Justin Timberlake publicly apologized to wife Jessica Biel last week after he was photographed holding hands with another woman, but Bette Midler wants him to issue another mea culpa, this one to Janet Jackson’s breast for the infamous Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.”
“#JustinTimberlake publicly apologized to his wife for holding hands with another actress after having too much to drink, but sez nothing else happened. Who cares? He held another woman’s hand, BFD,” Midler tweeted this week. “So when is Janet Jackson’s boob gonna get an apology? #JusticeForJanet.”
While performing with Jackson during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, Timberlake infamously pulled down a piece of the songstress’ top, exposing her breast and sending shockwaves through the industry. All parties involved said it was not planned.
Jackson, now 53, took a lot of the fallout from the incident, and at the Grammys a week later, she did not perform as planned while Timberlake, now 38, did hit the stage. “If you consider it 50-50, then I probably got 10 percent of the blame,” Timberlake told MTV in 2006 (via The Washington Post). “I think America is harsher on women. I think America is unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”
Jackson, meanwhile, told Oprah Winfrey that she did think people were too hard on her: “I think they were. I think they did put all the emphasis on me, as opposed to us.”
In a 2018 interview ahead of Timberlake’s subsequent Super Bowl halftime performance, he said he and Jackson have “absolutely” made peace since “Nipplegate.”
Meanwhile, last week, Timberlake issued an apology after photographers at a bar captured him holding hands with Alisha Wainwright, his co-star in the upcoming movie “Palmer.”
“A few weeks ago I displayed a strong lapse in judgement (sic) — but let me be clear — nothing happened between me and my costar,” he wrote on Instagram. “I drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior. I should have known better. This is not the example I want to set for my son. I apologize to my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be. This was not that.”
Timberlake and Biel, 37, have been married since 2012. They are the parents of 4-year-old son Silas Randall.