Janet Jackson Takes Victory Lap On Network That Tried To Destroy Her Career
'I am so, so honored — I'm so grateful. I mean no disrespect in any way, but I don't consider myself an icon,' she said while holding the ICON Award onstage at the ceremony on Monday. 'My family, myself, our dream was to … it wasn't ever to be famous. We weren't raised like that. We always had a special love for music, dancing and singing — and fame came with the result of hard work and dedication.'
Unsurprisingly, Katherine Jackson's youngest child offered us her trademark humility in her sweet whisper. But for her fans, including myself, I couldn't believe she made this statement as if she is not the Janet Damita Jo Jackson, our dancing diva who is the lady of the 'Butterfly' and the '8-Count.' She's the visionary behind some of the greatest music videos, tours and performances in pop music. She is the template of success for the generations of artists who have followed her.
'I'm excited to see Janet. I haven't seen her in years, and I'm glad that she's being celebrated, too,' said Jennifer Lopez, who hosted the show and once danced for Jackson.
As much fuss has rightfully been made about Jackson's American Music Awards moment being her first TV performance in seven years, not nearly enough has been said about this being the first time she blessed CBS with a performance since her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, which included the infamous 'Nipplegate' incident. (You can watch her American Music Awards performance here.)
Jackson's fans always felt that the controversy was overblown, and more importantly, that she disproportionally received more backlash than Justin Timberlake, the other participant in that situation.
It wasn't until 2018 that there was real evidence of an effort to blacklist the groundbreaking pop star. That year, Yashar Ali reported for HuffPost that Les Moonves, the former CEO and chairman of CBS, became obsessed with Jackson's career for years afterward. Moonves ordered CBS' sister properties VH1 and MTV, along with all Viacom-owned radio stations, to stop playing Jackson's songs and music videos.
This incident derailed the sales of 'Damita Jo,' released in March 2004, one month after the Super Bowl. That album had some bops, particularly 'I Want You,' 'All Nite (Don't Stop)' and 'Strawberry Bounce,' which I recommend playing during a hike or while trying to finish the rest of your time on the stairmaster if you're into the sort of thing.
In that same piece, Ali noted that upon realizing that Jackson was able to publish a book under a publisher then owned by Viacom, Moonves said, 'How the fuck did she slip through?'
If not for Tyler Perry casting her in films, record producer Jermaine Dupri's hits, her most dedicated fans and the legacy of the artist who has twice secured the largest recording contract in history, her fame might have completely faded.
Jackson never received a public apology from CBS for any of it. (In 2021, Timberlake apologized in an Instagram post.) In 2023, she came close when the Grammys wanted to give her their Global Impact Award before bowing out. Part of the problem was a scheduling conflict for a pre-Grammys event, but the real snag was that CBS and its parent company had not acknowledged or apologized for the Nipplegate response.
'Our sources say Janet's team and Grammy organizers began talking about ways CBS could either apologize or figure out a way to acknowledge how she was treated by the network, but things just got too complicated and talks ended,' TMZ reported at the time.
Now that we have reestablished how nasty CBS was to Jackson and how lucky they are that she even showed up at the American Music Awards, I'll finish stanning a bit and acknowledge that Jackson is still stellar more than 40 years into her career.
She is 59 years old and still putting on incredible performances. I recently turned 41 and have been exhausted by millennials who complain about how old they are and how much everything hurts. Look at Janet Jackson, shut up, stretch and believe in yourself.
While I hate to be superficial (not really), look at her face and hair. None of us can go back in time, but whatever Jackson is doing has gotten her as close to her 1993 self as possible. The styling is also top-notch, and, whew, I'm so glad she's out of her covered-all-up-in-black era.
Lastly, I loved that she chose to perform 'Someone To Call My Lover,' which has been surging in streams and sales after going viral on TikTok, and 'All For You,' her biggest hit of the 2000s.
It's no coincidence that those are songs from the album released before the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show and its aftermath. It's a testament to the mainstream appeal of her music when not met with interference.
Ultimately, it's also a testament to her legacy; no matter what gets in her way, she will continue to thrive.
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