8 takeaways from Janet Jackson documentary about Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction

It's the moment that left 150 million viewers incredulous and introduced the term "wardrobe malfunction" into the lexicon.

A new documentary also argues that the infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime moment between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake also had a disproportionate effect on Jackson's career after she took the lion's share of the blame in the aftermath.

The latest installment of the New York Times documentary series on Hulu and FX, titled "Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson," will be released on Friday night and examines the controversial halftime performance in which Timberlake ripped down a piece of Jackson's outfit at the end to reveal her bare breast.

The 69-minute film takes a behind-the-scenes look at how the show was put together and the ensuing blowback that the documentary argues fell disproportionately on Jackson.

“We should never forget what they did to Janet," New York Times culture writer Jenna Wortham says in the film. "We should never forget that outrage. What was the cost for this woman, and was it worth it?”

Timberlake issued an apology in February to Jackson as well as Britney Spears, who's featured in another New York Times documentary, for past sexist and misogynist behavior.

Here are eight takeaways from the look back at the notorious Super Bowl moment.

Janet Jackson was the least of the organizers' worries ahead of the Super Bowl halftime

With a lineup that also included P. Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock, there was much more concern over offensive rap lyrics and Kid Rock's wish to perform while draped in an American flag than anything Jackson had planned.

"I think of all the issues we had potentially concerning the talent for that halftime show, Janet Jackson was probably the least concern we had," Jim Steeg, director of NFL special events, says in the film.

There was enough concern that the then-commissioner of the NFL, Paul Tagliabue, says in the film that he called the head of CBS, Les Moonves, ahead of the game to get assurances about the halftime show.

The owner of the Houston Texans, who were hosting the game, also sent a letter to Tagliabue expressing his concerns about the lineup.

"So I spoke to Les from the car as I was driving to Kennedy Airport, and he told me he was aware of the issues and that I didn’t have to worry about it, he would make certain the halftime show presentation would be first class and there would be no problems," Tagliabue said.

Timberlake ironically was actually added to the lineup way after the original performers in order to help assuage those concerns and potentially temper any controversy, according to Steeg.

On the day of the game, he arrived in Houston on a plane from Europe only 20 minutes before the halftime show started and needed a police escort to get there on time, according to the film.

Timberlake had a previous cringe-worthy moment with Jackson

The documentary shows footage from the 2001 MTV Icon Award show honoring Jackson in which she is introduced by members of the boy band 'N SYNC.

As Chris Kirkpatrick is talking about Jackson's talent and songs, Timberlake keeps interjecting with comments about her appearance.

"Yeah, like how to be fine," Timberlake says after Kirkpatrick says they love Jackson for many reasons.

Kirkpatrick then talks about groove in Jackson's video for "That's the Way Love Goes."

"Yeah, she's fine in the video, too," Timberlake says.

The initial plan was for Timberlake to rip a different piece of clothing off Jackson at the end of the performance

They held a full dress rehearsal on the Thursday ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, according to Beth McCarthy-Miller, who directed the show.

The initial plan was for Timberlake to tear away a different part of clothing when he got to the line in his song "Rock Your Body" that said "I'm going to have you naked by the end of this song." Jackson was going to be wearing a tearaway skirt that Timberlake would pull off to reveal her with a full jumpsuit underneath.

After the rehearsal, that idea was killed after CBS and the NFL expressed their unhappiness with it, former MTV executive Salli Frattini, who produced the halftime show, says in the film. Jackson said she was agreeable to the change, according to Frattini.

Publicists for Jackson and Timberlake did not comment on the documentary when reached by the filmmakers.

Jackson was in tears after the moment and "fled" the building

The producer and director had no idea about the controversial moment until they received angry phone calls and then spoke with the staff on the ground.

"I asked my stage manager, I said, 'What’s going on?'" McCarthy-Miller says in the film. "She said, 'I don’t know, but I had a blanket for Janet to wrap her in and she said, 'I put the blanket on her and she was crying.'"

Frattini said Jackson got on a plane to Los Angeles before they could even speak to her.

"Janet fled, we couldn’t get her on the phone or her manager," Frattini says. "She never said anything to us."

No one still knows exactly how it happened

The director and producer said they never received a clear answer about whether it was a stunt or not, and whose idea it ultimately was to do it. Jackson's team claimed she was supposed to reveal a red bra, not her breast.

Frattini said Timberlake apologized that night.

"That was never meant to happen," she said he told her. "I was told you guys knew. He was very apologetic. He manned up."

Timberlake also issued a statement that night containing the soon-to-be-famous term "wardrobe malfunction" in it.

Jackson issued an apology the next day and then later a video apology at the demand of CBS.

CBS demanded an apology on stage from Jackson and Timberlake if they were going to appear at that year's Grammy Awards

Moonves demanded that if either of the two stars were going to appear on that year's broadcast of the Grammys, they would have to publicly apologize, according to Ron Roecker, a former vice president of communications for The Recording Academy.

The Recording Academy invited both of them, but only Timberlake appeared on the Grammys. He won a Grammy and then apologized.

"Justin decided to be on the show, and Janet decided not to," Roecker says. "Was it because of the apology, I don’t know. One can assume."

There allegedly was no conspiracy to blacklist Jackson after the incident but it badly hurt her career

Jackson's subsequent album released after the Super Bowl, "Damita Jo," was her lowest-selling album since 1984, and her songs and videos received low airplay on radio stations and MTV.

A 2017 story by Billboard claims Clear Channel, which had 1,200 radio stations across the country at the time, blacklisted all of Jackson’s songs on its channels.

The chief legal officer of Clear Channel denied that in the film, saying that all programming decisions were made locally "so there couldn't have been a system-wide blacklist."

Jackson ended up leaving her label, Virgin Records, and had acting offers rescinded in the wake of the controversy.

Timberlake, meanwhile, had a deal with McDonald's that stayed in place. He also was asked back to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl in 2018.

"The way Janet Jackson was deserted by the successful white companies was despicable," Cathy Hughes, founder of the media company Radio One, says in the film.

Moonves asked if Jackson could be forced to pay the fines given to CBS by the FCC

Moonves reportedly got so angry he asked executives in a meeting whether they could make Jackson pay their fines of more than half a million dollars, according to Abrams.

CBS eventually appealed the fines all the way to the Supreme Court and got them overturned.

Moonves later resigned from the company in 2018 after allegations of sexual assault and harassment, which he has denied. A representative for Moonves declined to comment on the film.