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Dammit, Janet
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Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet -
Dammit, Janet
DECEMBER 28--It has been a banner year for complainers. Thanks to Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime peep show, every nut with a bit of outrage (either real or manufactured) found time to share an opinion with the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC received hundreds of thousands of e-mails and letters about the February 1 incident, and, as expected, the overwhelming majority of these missives were harshly critical of Jackson, Justin Timberlake, MTV, and CBS. Along with calls for heavy fines and license revocations, many correspondents actually suggested that the two singers be imprisoned. But while so many complainants claimed to have been shocked at the site of Jackson's breast, not a single e-mail provided to TSG (pursuant to a Freedom of Information request) was sent the night of the game. It wasn't until conservative groups began screaming that the FCC's mailbox began to swell. Below you'll find some of our favorite letters whining about Jackson's halftime performance. The anti-nipple campaign was only the first in a year that saw the FCC flooded with letters from viewers taking umbrage with indecency. Howard Stern and ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel were able to generate an uprising against a March 18 airing of The Oprah Winfrey Show that included explicit talk about teen sexuality (and addressed topics such as rainbows and getting one's salad tossed). The FCC received more than 1600 letters complaining about the racy broadcast and demanding that the talk show host be cited for indecency (the FCC declined to do so). (23 pages)
