Supreme Court refuses FCC bid to fine CBS for Janet Jackson incident

The long legal battle between CBS and the Federal Communications Commission over Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show is over.

The Supreme Court on June 29 refused to hear the FCC's request to reinstate a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS for the halftime performance featuring Jackson and Justin Timberlake, who at the end of a song tore a piece of Jackson's top, exposing her bare breast to an audience of about 90 million. "It is now clear that the brevity of an indecent broadcast — be it word or image — cannot immunize it from FCC censure," said Chief Justice John Roberts. "Any future 'wardrobe malfunctions' will not be protected on the ground relied on by the court below." In addition, Chief Justice Roberts said that calling it a "wardrobe malfunction" when Justin Timberlake ripped away part of Jackson's bustier "strained the credulity of the public." CBS said it was "gratified to finally put this episode behind us" and noted that "at every major turn of this process, the lower courts have sided with us." The network added that since the Super Bowl, it has added delays to all live programming to prevent similar incidents from happening.