FCC Loses Janet Jackson Super Bowl Case

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake perform at the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show produced by MTV, 2004

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Philadelphia's 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the FCC wrongly fined Janet Jackson and CBS for the singer's infamous 2004 Super Bowl performance in which a "wardrobe malfunction" exposed her breast. The court ruled that the FCC's decision to fine CBS $550,000 was made "arbitrarily and capriciously."

Photos: Random Notes

The appeals court ruling is supposedly the conclusion of a case that has had previous conflicting decisions. The 3rd Circuit Court voided the fine in 2008, but the Supreme Court vacated that ruling a year later.

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Song Stories

“Push It”

Salt-N-Pepa | 1987

Originating as a B side to their cover of the Stax classic “Tramp,” Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandi “Pepa” Denton and Dee Dee “DJ Spinderella” Roper came up with the goods on this career-making, Grammy-nominated platinum single about working it on the dancefloor. “Push It” has been sampled and spliced to death since it debuted in 1987, yet the original track is as fresh and fly as when SNP — among the few original women of hip-hop — debuted it. “Most men will never believe ‘Push It’ was never about sex,” said James. “And that’s why the record went to Number One,” said Denton. “Everybody thought it was about sex.”

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