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Justin Timberlake 'absolutely' made peace with Janet Jackson after Super Bowl mishap

Whatever was said between the stars remains private — and he intends to keep it that way — but he insists they're fine now.
/ Source: TODAY

Next month, Justin Timberlake will perform at Super Bowl 52, but it won't be his first time on the celebrated halftime stage.

Back in 2004, he joined headliner Janet Jackson for a brief but memorable moment that lead to controversy, trouble with the FCC and alleged bad blood between the singers.

But according to Timberlake, he and Jackson are just fine now.

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake seen just moments before the "wardrobe malfunction" that sparked so much controversy during their Super Bowl halftime show in 2004.WireImage

As anyone who watched the infamous performance will remember, the two stars sang "Rock Your Body" together, and as Timberlake belted out the lyrics "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song," he ripped away a portion of Jackson's costume, exposing her breast.

While there were claims at the time that the incident was completely planned, Jackson alleged that only a portion of her outfit — the black vinyl exterior — was intended to be torn off. As for Timblerlake, he coined the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" to describe it. Both apologized.

However, the fallout was different for each of them, with Jackson seeing immediate ramifications to her career — from her music being blacklisted on some radio stations to her being banned from attending the Grammys that year — while Timberlake's career seemed largely unaffected.

Timberlake recently spoke to Beats 1 Radio about the controversy, and when asked if he and Jackson have since made peace, he said, "Absolutely."

Whatever was said between the stars remains private — and he intends to keep it that way — but he insists they're fine now.

"I don't know that a lot of people know that," the "Man of the Woods" singer explained. "I mean, I don't think it's my job to do that, because you value the relationships that you do have with people."

Still, even though he says he's good with Jackson, Timberlake also had to address any concerns from the powers that be behind the halftime show before he locked down the deal for his upcoming set.

"Naturally," he said. "That's something we talked about."

But in the end, there wasn't really a lot to say.

"To be honest, (it) wasn't too much of a conversation," Timberlake recalled. "Just one of those things where we go, 'We're not gonna ...' What do you want me to say? Like, 'We're not gonna do that again'?"

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Fans will get a chance to see for themselves when he hits the halftime stage on Feb. 4.