Janet Jackson - Super Bowl halftime 2004

During the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show finale, Justin Timberlake ripped off Janet Jackson’s top. Her breast was exposed on screen for nine sixteenths of a second. A pop icon and role model for many black women, the moment derailed Jackson’s career for many years while Timberlake’s thrived. But who was invested in the backlash? What does all this have to say about the ways in which black women are scrutinised in the public eye? Paula Varjack is one of our Mudlarks artists and Nine Sixteenths ha