Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine has pulled a ‘Janet Jackson’ after his nipples stole the show at Bowl LIII at Georgia. Levine stripped down to his pants in the middle of the performance at halftime, exposing his heavily-tattooed chest to the crowd. Many angry fans of Janet Jackson were quick to point out that Levine’s bare-chested performance wasn’t as heavily criticised as the diva’s 2004 debacle at the same stage. During a performance with Justin Timberlake on the song “Rock Your Body,” Jackson suffered a career-ending “wardrobe malfunction”, which was widely broadcasted on CBS. Timberlake ripped off a part of her costume to reveal her right breast in an incident that was called “nipplegate” by the media.

While it was Timberlake who was directly responsible for the malfunction, which lasted for only half-a-second, Jackson had to endure the shame. The incident created uproar even as her publicist insisted that the incident was not pre-planned as accused. Here's What Adam Levine Has To Say About His Super Bowl Gig!

Watch The Infamous Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake Video:

The popstar stated: “It’s truly embarrassing for me to know that 90 million people saw my breast, and then to see it blown up on the internet the size of a computer screen...” She added that there were much worse things in the world, and it was a travesty that the incident was now the focus. CBS even forced Jackson to post an apology to the audience, MTV, CBS, NFL and anyone who was “offended” by it.

But people pointed out that Levine’s bare-chested show at the same venue didn’t ignite the same level of anger as did Jackson’s. Twitter exploded with fans demanding an apology to the wronged singer. Fans were further incensed by the fact that the channel didn’t bother to censor Levine’s nipples, while Jackson’s caused a media storm, almost ending her career.

Here are some of the reactions:

Calling for Janet Jackson Appreciation Day

Say It Like It Is!

True Dat

Where's the Apology?

Talk About Double Standards 

The Nipplegate incident was one of the biggest controversies of 2004, which brought to fore the underlying sexism, double-standards and racism in America. Even fourteen years after the debacle, it’s clear that the society treats women with harsher standards of morality than it does men.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2019 02:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).