What is it with the fear over clothing or lack of it. Anyone in America with half a hormone in his/her body didn’t give a rat’s ass about Janet Jackson’s boob popping out at the Super Bowl and many more of us were hoping that was a prelude to more nudity from Ms. Jackson (because I’m nasty).
I guess the Harris County folks are worried about another malfunction. This is from the Chron…
Spurred on by Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl, county officials have fine-tuned policies in the hope that similar incidents can be prevented in the future.
Commissioners Court was informed today that promoters will sign contracts that highlight phrases such as one requiring that performers not use facilities for any “immoral purpose.”
Promoters will be required to carry at least $1 million in insurance to cover lawsuits that may result from a performer’s actions, said Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park.
The Sports & Convention Corp. developed some of the slight policy changes in March and April, more than a year after Jackson bared her breast during a Super Bowl halftime performance at Reliant Stadium on Feb. 1, 2004.
Shortly after Jackson’s performance, Commissioner Steve Radack called for adding a “morality clause” to the contracts of promoters who bring in acts to Reliant Park.
The changes took until this year because the matter wasn’t a high priority and because officials looked at the morality-clause issue exhaustively before making decisions, Loston said.
The Sports & Convention Corp. informed the court of its decisions as part of normal communications, Loston said.
The highlighting of the phrase “immoral purpose” represents a change in Reliant Park contracts. But few other changes were made in contracts between the county and performers.
Loston said the Sports & Convention Corp.’s board and SMG-Reliant Park, a national company that manages Reliant Park and other sports and convention venues worldwide, chose not to impose a Draconian morality clause.
First, immorality, indecency and vulgarity are subjective concepts, and certain behaviors are protected under First Amendment freedom of speech provisions, Loston said.
Second, Reliant Park would lose business and some performers would choose to perform in another town or at another venue if the county imposed an extraordinarily strict morality clause, he said.
“We talked about how restrictive can we get and still be competitive,” he said. “We would put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage to Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center and Cynthia Woods (Pavilion).”
Jackson’s breast-baring, which co-performer Justin Timberlake later described as a “wardrobe malfunction,” created a clamor nationwide for stricter standards of decency.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Viacom, parent company of CBS, and its affiliates $550,000 over the Jackson incident.
Earlier this year, Congress weighed raising the maximum fines that could be imposed on broadcasters for airing indecent material to $500,000 a violation.
All of this over what is commonly referred to as a “nipple slip” and we didn’t even get to see a nipple! I feel cheated! Get my commissioner on the phone!