Janet Jackson’s fashion designer reignites 22-year-old rumour, claims infamous Superbowl wardrobe malfunction was planned

Janet Jackson’s fashion designer claimed the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” the singer suffered at the 2004 Superbowl Halftime Show was actually planned.

Wayne Scott Lukas claimed that Jackson’s outfit was purposely designed for Timberlake to rip off the breast covering, in the hopes of creating an iconic pop culture moment.

“Britney [Spears], Madonna and Christina Aguilera kissed in front of Justin on MTV. So, Janet’s choreographer Gill said, ‘We have to do something bigger.’ That’s how this became that,” Lukas told TMZ Sports.

He continued, saying the biggest mistake of the performance came when the MTV producers did not cut away from Jackson after Timberlake pulled her breast covering off.

“They kind of left Janet out hanging,” Lukas said. “So the people I’d blame are the MTV producers.”

Lukas claimed that Jackson was “supposed to come back down under the stage to meet me to wrap her up in clothes, and she never came back down.”

“She disappeared,” Lukas added.

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Jackson was initially supposed to wear a G-string and show her bottom off during the performance, but the plan changed two days before the game, Lukas claimed.

He added that Timberlake never apologised for the incident.

“He never made up with any of us,” Lukas shared. “We all lost a lot of work. I had moral clauses in my contract. I was losing jobs. I had to stay quiet for my friend Janet – and I did.”

Timberlake has an upcoming documentary on Apple TV to discuss the infamous moment, however, Lukas claims he wasn’t invited to talk about it, despite being the man behind it.

“I’m the only one who really knows what happened, because I designed the outfit, made the outfit, and changed the outfit two days before the actual production,” Lukas explained.

“I know all the stories and all the secrets, and I know where the bodies are buried.”

Lukas said he “doesnt need an apology” from Timberlake, but he wanted him to “tell the truth” about the moment.

The designer previously claimed to Page Six that Timberlake was the one who pushed for the planned “wardrobe malfunction” to outshine Spears and Madonna’s viral kiss at the 2003 MTV VMAs.

“Justin insisted on doing something bigger than their performance. He wanted a reveal,” Lukas told the outlet.

The day after the now infamous performance, Jackson publicly apologised for the reveal, saying the decision had been made “after final rehearsals.”

“It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. MTV, CBS [and] the NFL had no knowledge of this whatsoever and, unfortunately, the whole thing went wrong in the end,” she said at the time.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into the incident after it received over half a million complaints.

The fallout continued, with Jackson forced to withdraw from presenting at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Her music videos and singles were also blacklisted by MTV and CBS chief Les Moonves at the time.

Jackson spoke about the incident During her 2022 two-part Lifetime documentary, saying it was “blown way out of proportion.”

“It was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that’s gotta stop,” she said.

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