--- title: Justin Timberlake References Janet Jackson in Halftime Show description: Justin Timberlake subtly acknowledged his 2004 Super Bowl performance with Janet Jackson during his halftime show on Sunday. canonical: https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-05T19:31:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:21.607Z og:title: How Justin Timberlake Referenced Janet Jackson in His Show og:description: The singer referenced his infamous 2004 performance with Jackson og:url: https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f6b734de57547/6988faa0db29870c6425ea40/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-nod-super-bowl-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Justin Timberlake Referenced Janet Jackson in His Show twitter:description: The singer referenced his infamous 2004 performance with Jackson twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f6b734de57547/6988faa0db29870c6425ea40/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-nod-super-bowl-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Subtle Way Justin Timberlake Acknowledged Janet Jackson During His Super Bowl Performance  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 5, 2018 7:31 PM UTC  MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Recording artist Justin Timberlake performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images) MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Recording artist Justin Timberlake performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)Christopher Polk—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 5, 2018 7:31 PM UTC [Justin Timberlake](http://time.com/5131487/justin-timberlake-super-bowl-halftime-show-review/)‘s return to the [Super Bowl](http://time.com/5132921/philadelphia-eagles-patriots-super-bowl/) stage on Sunday to headline this year’s halftime show was always going to be controversial, thanks to his infamous [“Nipplegate” moment with Janet Jackson](http://time.com/5129559/janet-jackson-justin-timberlake-super-bowl-2018/) in 2004. However, it appears that the singer attempted to subtly address the notorious moment with one of his first songs of the set: a reprisal of the duet of “Rock Your Body” that he did with Jackson 14 years ago. Timberlake infamously sang the lyrics “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” as he ripped off part of Jackson’s bodice in a move that would add “wardrobe malfunction” into the pop culture lexicon; however, this time around, Timberlake sang the song but abruptly yelled, “Stop!” before he reached those lyrics, a subtle acknowledgment of Jackson and the controversy of “Nipplegate.” Watch the full clip above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/"},"headline":"The Subtle Way Justin Timberlake Acknowledged Janet Jackson During His Super Bowl Performance","datePublished":"2018-02-05T19:31:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:21.607Z","description":"The singer referenced his infamous 2004 performance with Jackson","url":"https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","viral","Justin Timberlake","2018 super bowl"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f6b734de57547/6988faa0db29870c6425ea40/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-nod-super-bowl-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f6b734de57547/6988faa0db29870c6425ea40/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-nod-super-bowl-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show","caption":"Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show","creditText":"Christopher Polk—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5133906/justin-timberlake-janet-jackson-reference-super-bowl/","name":"The Subtle Way Justin Timberlake Acknowledged Janet Jackson During His Super Bowl Performance"}}]}] ```