Now, it was known and speculated by many people that Janet Jackson’s career was sabotaged after the 2004 Super Bowl accident, but now we have confirmation from the Huffington Post. 

Current CEO and chairman of CBS Les Moonves was so furious at Jackson (and not Justin Timberlake… odd right) about the nipple gate performance, that he barred Jackson from performing at the Grammys that year, and all other Viacom station award shows, as well as Viacom-owned radio stations from playing her music. This impacted her sales of her then-new album, “Damita Jo.”

Viacom faced a $550,000 Federal Communications Commission fine and a lot of criticism for the incident, but the real reason Moonves went after Jackson so hard is because she did not directly apologize to him, according to Huffington Post.

“The CBS chief executive, according to sources who spoke to me, was furious that Jackson didn’t make a similarly contrite apology to him. The fallout from the incident inflicted significant damage on Jackson’s career ― which until that point had produced 10 No. 1 hits ― and still reverberates to this day.

A major point of controversy, particularly among Jackson’s black fans, was that the reaction to the wardrobe malfunction fell solely on Jackson’s shoulders, even though Timberlake was the one who actually pulled off the fabric to reveal her breast. While Jackson’s career was significantly damaged, Timberlake’s flourished. CBS insiders who spoke to me felt strongly that Moonves played a large part in how Jackson was perceived by the public.”

Several years after the 2004 incident, Jackson was able to sign a book deal with Simon & Schuster (owned by CBS Corporation) for her book “True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself.”  “How the fuck did she slip through?” Moonves asked while recounting the story to the anonymous source from Huffington Post.

Moonves is currently working on his exit deal with CBS, and I’m sure more information about his career behind the scene will be dropping soon.