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Worker says Jackson rehearsal was tamer
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-05 08:48 Before the Super Bowl, Justin
Timberlake and Janet Jackson rehearsed a tamer version of the now-infamous
breast-bearing performance during their halftime show, a worker who saw the
rehearsals said Wednesday.
Janet Jackson is
shown in a videotape released to the media Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004, in Los
Angeles in which she apologized for the breast-baring incident during her
performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. Jackson had previously
apologized Monday night in a written statement.
[AP] | Timberlake practiced removing Jackson's
jacket — not exposing her breast — in rehearsals several days before Sunday's
game, said David Spear, who attended the rehearsals as a consultant for
Pyrotecnico, the company hired by MTV to produce pyrotechnics during halftime.
Spear said Jackson was wearing a sweater and jeans during the rehearsal.
Timberlake pantomimed removing a jacket, said Spear, who added that he assumed
Jackson would be wearing both a jacket and a blouse underneath during Sunday's
show.
Jackson has apologized repeatedly for what happened at the end of her
performance Sunday: Timberlake snatched off part of her bustier on stage,
revealing a breast clad in a "nipple shield" to about 89 million viewers.
"That's not how it was rehearsed," Spear said Wednesday. "It was clear that
night that there was going to be one scene where he would remove her jacket. The
clear assumption was that she would have something on underneath."
CBS faces a Federal Communications Commission investigation into whether the
Super Bowl show violated decency laws, with potential fines of up to $27,500. If
applied to each CBS station, the fine could reach into the millions.
Spear, who lives in New Orleans, said MTV changed a number of elements of the
halftime show during rehearsals. Performer Kid Rock had tossed his U.S. flag
T-shirt into the crowd during rehearsals, but was told to hand the shirt to a
band member instead, Spear said.
He also said they changed camera angles to screen out a scantily clad dancer.
Tom Freston, chairman of MTV Networks, has said he welcomes the FCC's
investigation, which he said will prove that the show's producers and
broadcasters had no prior knowledge of the stunt. MTV produced the halftime
show.
Spear said he believed CBS and MTV were unaware that Jackson's breast would
be exposed during the show.
"I think they got snookered," Spear said. "I think they got blindsided by her
antics."
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