Les Moonves long held a grudge against Janet Jackson following the infamous Nipplegate scandal at the 2004 Super Bowl and wanted there to be hell to pay, according to a new report.
Moonves _ the CEO of CBS Corp. who was recently accused of sexual misconduct _ didn't believe it was an accident when Justin Timberlake removed a piece of Jackson's costume, exposing her right breast, during their halftime performance, and he was embarrassed the incident took place on his airwaves, HuffPost reported, citing sources.
He never believed Jackson was remorseful enough after the incident and was unhappy she didn't issue the type of apology to him that Timberlake _ who was allegedly moved to tears when he said sorry _ apparently did, according to the website.
Timberlake was allowed to perform at the Grammys, which also aired on CBS, after his apology, even though Moonves had initially banned both him and Jackson from doing so following the Super Bowl. The Grammys took place a week after the Super Bowl that year.
Jackson had an album come out the following month, and Moonves reportedly instructed every Viacom entity _ including MTV and VH1 _ not to play Jackson's music. Multiple CBS insiders told Huffpost that they believed Moonves' stance on Jackson after the Super Bowl impacted the way the general public viewed her following the scandal.
Both Timberlake and Jackson have said the Super Bowl incident was a wardrobe malfunction.
Moonves was also reportedly irate when he learned Jackson had landed a book contract with the CBS-owned Simon & Schuster in 2011.
CBS declined to comment on the report.
Moonves was accused of sexual misconduct by six women in a report by The New Yorker published in July. Four of the women accused Moonves of forcible touching or kissing, while all six said their careers were negatively impacted after they rejected an advance from him.
Moonves has denied the allegations.
He has been discussing a potential settlement to leave CBS, according to CNBC, with the package potentially being worth around $100 million.
