'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

Early Show blurs same-sex kiss as singer makes his case

(NEWSER) - After being booted from a scheduled Good Morning America appearance because of his American Music Awards antics, Adam Lambert was snatched up by CBS’ Early Show, where he contended the controversy was motivated by his sexuality: “If it had been a female pop performer doing the moves that were on the stage, I don't think there'd be nearly as much of an outrage.” Then CBS made his point for him, blurring a shot of him kissing a man. More»

The Jackson nipple-slip battle continues; 'how insane' is this?

(NEWSER) - Back in President Bush's America, the FCC assault on Janet Jackson's nipple-ringed revelation made an odd sort of sense, Michelle Dean writes in Bitch. After all, "the inmates were running the asylum" and sanity was "unrepresented in government." But now that President Obama is in office, and "crazy people" get airtime to call him "a secret Muslim," the FCC has said it wants another review of the 5-year-old Jackson case. "How absolutely insane" is this? More»

Says CBS should have used tape delay to prevent incident

(NEWSER) - Five years after the nation saw a split-second of Janet Jackson’s right boob, the FCC is trying to reopen the case, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The FCC is asking the Third Circuit Appeals Court to remand the case back to the agency. The evidence “strongly suggests that CBS had access to video delay technology,” the commission says, and the decision not to use it was “willful.” More»

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court today ordered a federal appeals court to consider reinstating a fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, the AP reports. The appeals court had ruled that the glimpse of Jackson’s breast, which lasted nine-sixteenths of a second, should have been considered “fleeting,” and hence not eligible for a fine. More»

Host has crusaded against TV profanity

(NEWSER) - MSNBC host Joe Scarborough dropped what he calls an F-bomb on Morning Joe today, letting the profanity slip when describing Rahm Emanuel's hard-charging style as “flipping people off and screaming F-you at the top of their lungs.” Which might be inconsequential, writes Glenn Greenwald for Salon, except that Scarborough has relentlessly railed against profanity on American airwaves and pushed for strict FCC penalties against violators. More»