It will come as little compensation for US TV network CBS, but as American media regulator the FCC slams the company with a record breaking $550,000 fine for screening the infamous Nipplegate routine during the Superbowl earlier this year, a new survey shows the majority of American parents were not too concerned when Janet Jackson flashed her breast on primetime television.
The survey, undertaken by the Kaiser Foundation, found that less that 20% of parents interviewed said they were 'very concerned' by the incident, despite the uproar that followed it. Many now reckon the high number of complaints received by the FCC relating to the Superbowl show had more to do with proactive campaigning by the Parents' Television Council in the weeks after the incident rather than genuine outrage caused during the broadcast.
Despite apologising for the incident at the time, Janet Jackson has recently suggested that the media outrage to her raunchy routine was in part fed by the Bush Administration who were keen to get Iraq off the news agenda. She points out that FCC chairman, Michael Powell, is the son of US secretary of state Colin Powell. In a recent interview with US magazine Genre she said: "I truly feel in my heart that the president wanted to take the focus off himself at that time. And I was the perfect vehicle to do so at that moment."