Janet Jackson just revealed the shocking details of a major wardrobe malfunction. No, not that one. The fashion faux pas occurred while she performed in her iconic Rhythm Nation outfit.
“Funny story,” she said, while discussing her best fashion moments over the years with British Vogue. “I was performing for the Queen of England, and we were doing Rhythm Nation. Sure enough, as soon as I squatted, my pants split right up my booty crack.”
Jackson “couldn’t believe it happened…. Then I started feeling air back there, so I knew it had really happened,” The pop legend’s solution? “I never turned my back to her, which, some of the choreography, I was supposed to. I just faced forward,” she said.
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Jackson has done it all over the course of her incomparable five-decade career, from maintaining the record for most American Music Awards nominations from one album (12, for Control), to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to finding crossover success as an actress on series like Diff’rent Strokes and in films like Poetic Justice.
Yet her infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction continues to haunt her. The incident, in which her breast was exposed while performing with Justin Timberlake, prompted waves of backlash that are still being felt today. Jackson’s starring role in a then-upcoming Lena Horne biopic was revoked, she was investigated by the FCC, resulting in a fee over $500,000 levied at CBS (which was eventually waived), and a statue of Mickey Mouse in the Rhythm Nation outfit was removed from Disney World.
She revealed the inspiration behind the memorable outfit, which was conjured up for the visuals and tour supporting her 1989 album Rhythm Nation, formally titled Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. “Fahrenheit 451, that’s where this came from, the inspiration for this. With the mockneck shirt, the hat with the plate on it,” she explained. “It’s a French film, I think.”
Francois Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian classic starred Julie Christie and Oscar Werner. The costumes for Fahrenheit 451 consisted of sleek, black jumpsuits composed of modular panels and panes. The film was one of the first big costume jobs by the late Tony Walton, who worked on films like Mary Poppins and The Wiz and was nominated for five Oscars, winning one for art direction-set decoration on All That Jazz.
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Jackson described “needing someone to build” her vision for the Rhythm Nation era. “Who could do this for me?” she remembers pondering. Jackson’s famous brothers directed her to Bill Whitten, the man behind some of Michael Jackson’s most legendary sartorial moments, including that single rhinestone-studded glove. “All those plates had to be made,” Jackson explained, “and Bill did a wonderful job.”
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Jackson’s fashion influence endures. Victoria Monet recently referenced Jackson’s 2008 video for the song “Feedback” in her own video for “Alright,” itself a reference to Janet’s Rhythm Nation song “Alright.” Kim Kardashian also donned Jackson’s crop top and bell bottoms from the 1993 video for “If,” which Kardashian purchased in a 2021 auction.
