It turns out Janet Jackson was the original recipient of the Grammys Global Impact Award. But her decades-long quarrel with CBS over Super Bowl 38 is what held her back from receiving the honor.
The Grammys sought to honor the “Rhythm Nation” singer in a big way for this year’s award ceremony by awarding her with the Global Impact Award, TMZ reported. However, as part of the accolade, Jackson had to attend a pre-Grammy event with the Black Music Collective days before the main event where she would accept the award.
The pop icon’s busy schedule prevented her from attending the Black Music Collective event, which led to talks about Janet receiving the award during the televised Grammy awards. However, with the Grammys
airing on CBS, it brought attention to the fact the network has yet to make peace with Jackson for how they treated her in 2004 after her Super Bowl halftime show wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake.During Super Bowl XXXVIII, Timberlake pulled Jackson’s top as part of their routine, but a slip-up led to Jackson’s bare breast being shown during the live show. CBS came under fire for the mishap, which led to former CEO Les Moonves pulling Jackson’s invite to the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Sources said Jackson’s team was in talks with CBS to figure out how the network could either apologize to the “All For You” hitmaker or acknowledge how she was treated by the network during the live show. But the talks became too complicated and resulted in Jackson being replaced by Lil Wayne as the Global Impact Award recipient, since she couldn’t attend the Black Music Collective event.
Jackson hasn’t attended the Grammys in years. The pop diva has five awards under her belt. Her last win came in 2002 for Best Dance Recording for her chart-topping single “All For You.”