Adam Levine is at the center of a heated debate following Maroon 5’s performance at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show. At the end of the band’s set, Levine took his shirt off, which many people are taking issue with given what happened to Janet Jackson on that same stage in 2004.

If you recall, the pop icon’s breast accidentally was exposed after her co-headliner Justin Timberlake tugged too hard on her outfit. The media dubbed the incident “Nipplegate,” and Jackson’s 20+-year career quickly derailed as a result. Clear Channel Communications, which owned Infinity Broadcasting and Viacom (MTV and CBS) at the time, blacklisted all of Jackson’s singles and music videos, drastically hindering her album sales. And the Grammys reportedly banned her from presenting at that year’s ceremony. Meanwhile, Timberlake attended with no drama and even accepted two awards.

Our culture, by and large, now views what happened to Jackson as sexist and unacceptable—#JanetJacksonAppreciationDay trended for a reason—which is why Super Bowl viewers are scratching their heads at Levine’s stunt. Why was he allowed to go shirtless for several minutes, but Jackson almost lost everything for a wardrobe malfunction?

“How does Adam Levine get to intentionally reveal both nipples, his belly, his whole back, underarms, left and right obliques, and every tattoo he has above his waist, but Janet Jackson can’t accidentally show 1 nipple,” one person tweeted. “Adam Levine is celebrated for taking his shirt off during halftime yet Janet Jackson is STILL in the dog house,” wrote another.

“This country should have a serious chat about why Adam Levine’s nipples are, uh, apparently ‘acceptable’ on TV but Janet Jackson was shamed and blacklisted for something she didn’t even do,” tweeted a third person.

There are more reactions where these came from, too. Read just a few of them, below:

Levine hasn’t commented on this controversy yet, but we’ll update this post when and if he does.

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