The Chaotic Fallout from Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunction: A Wild Inside Look
While CBS was fined $550,000 for the incident, the largest of its kind, by the FCC, the Third Circuit Court ruled in the network’s favor in 2008. The court stated that the FCC “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” by imposing such a fine for what they deemed to be an accidental split-second of nudity. The Supreme Court chose not to hear the case, sending it back to the Third Circuit for re-examination. By 2011, the court had ruled again in CBS’ favor.
In January 2014, Powell, who had left his position as FCC chairman, admitted that the committee had acted “unfairly” toward Jackson. He told ESPN that the committee overreacted, stating, “I personally thought that was really unfair. It all turned into being about her. In reality, if you slow the thing down, it’s Justin ripping off her breastplate.”
While the incident had a negative impact on Jackson’s career for years, there was at least one positive outcome from the whole situation. A young software programmer at PayPal named Jawed Karim, frustrated by his inability to find any video of the performance on the internet, teamed up with some friends to create a platform where people could easily upload and share videos. In 2005, YouTube was born.