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2019 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony - Show

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Janet Jackson’s former wardrobe stylist who put together the artist’s costume that somehow derailed her career is speaking out on the incident for the first time.

Seventeen years after the viral moment, in an interview with Access Hollywood, Wayne Scott Lukas explained how he dressed the now 55-year-old pop star in a sexy black ensemble for her 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance alongside Justin Timberlake who, at the end of their “Rock Your Body” performance, ripped off part of Janet’s top which exposed her right breast for a brief moment.

“I was a work-for-hire. I was hired to do a job. I did exactly what I was supposed to do,” the former stylist told Access Hollywood.

He continued, “If I work with someone who’s a dancer, you have to be able to dance in a wardrobe, and it has to never fall apart. My job is to have snaps and pins and velcro so that, even in her quick change, if she forgets to snap something, it stays on. That’s my job. I stand 100 percent by my story that I did exactly what I was supposed to do, what I was hired for.”

“And if I ever hurt my friend, I wouldn’t have worked with Janet for six years after the Super Bowl,” he added. “I would’ve been fired that day.”

However, when it comes to Timberlake, Lukas said things are definitely far from smooth since the former N’Sync star blamed him for the “malfunction.” “We haven’t spoken since he blamed me,” Lukas said. “He came off the stage and said, ‘It’s just a little wardrobe malfunction. We all want to give you something to [talk] about.’”

He continued, “And when he said that, I thought, ‘Friendship over. Friendship over! Wardrobe malfunction? I don’t malfunction. I was a professional stylist, [charging] $10,000 a day back then. I can’t fail! Why did you say that?’”

Lukas reassured that the show’s producers did not cut from the moment fast enough, explaining that viewers were never supposed to see a moment where a body part was exposed. “You were never supposed to see a movement where a breast was out, a body part was out. It was never supposed to be lingering on something that they say was this terrible thing for such a long time. They were supposed to cut to black. You were supposed to get the idea of ‘I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song.’ Nobody was supposed to be naked.”

He also revealed that everyone had a taped dress rehearsal beforehand, “No one knows this. You ready for this? When you do the [halftime show], this is the secret, you shoot it twice,” he revealed. “You shoot the performance twice because the first time you shoot it, you shoot it in case the satellite goes down and they have to cut to the original rehearsal.”

“So they had a second performance that the minute that happened, they could’ve pushed the button and cut to the tape,” he said. “And they didn’t.”

In response to the Luckas’ statement, former MTV producer, Salli Frattini, who worked on the halftime show, said “This is a false statement as per all of my comments previously written and now broadcast.”

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Janet Jackson’s Former Wardrobe Stylist Speaks On Infamous Halftime Nip Slip: ‘Somebody Didn’t Protect My Friend’  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com