Justin Timberlake Still Doesn't Want to Talk About What Happened During His 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show With Janet Jackson

He continues to plead the fifth.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Justin Timberlake isn't stupid, guys. He knows that you want to know what really happened during his 2004 Super Bowl halftime show with Janet Jackson. He knows that you want him to take some of the blame for it or give Janet all of the blame for it or say something—anything!—about it. But now that it's been 10 long years since he accidentally—or is it "accidentally"?—ripped a piece of Janet's top off at halftime of the Super Bowl and exposed part of her breast for the entire world to see, he knows that he doesn't stand to gain anything from revealing his thoughts on the major TV controversy that was later dubbed "Nipplegate."

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise to hear that JT was not in the mood to talk about the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show when ESPN The Magazine caught up with him recently to discuss it. The Mag was actually interviewing him for something else when they decided to slip a "Nipplegate" question in at the end. Specifically, they asked him what he had taken away from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. But Timberlake didn't take the bait.

"I take that I chose not to comment on it still, after 10 years," he said. "I'm not touching that thing with a 10-foot pole."

And when you really think about it, he shouldn't. Because at this point, nothing good is going to come out of him commenting on it. He's either going to make himself look good and, in the process, make Janet look bad or make Janet look good and, in the process, make himself look bad. So while we wouldn't mind hearing him address the '04 Super Bowl halftime show scandal, we aren't going to hold our breath waiting for him to comment on it. Not now, not five years from now, not 10 years from now, not ever.

If you want to read what other people had to say 10 years after "Nipplegate," though, go read The Mag's piece over here. Even without a proper reaction from Timberlake, it's still interesting to see how others, including the former FCC chairman Michael Powell, remember the incident now that a decade has passed since it took place.

RELATED: The Worst Fails in Halftime Show History

[via ESPN The Magazine]

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