Twitter showers Janet Jackson with love as Justin Timberlake returns to Super Bowl

Janet Jackson might've confirmed she's not performing at the Super Bowl tonight, but she's still managing to upstage Justin Timberlake anyway.

Janet-loving Twitter users rebranded Timberlake's return to the Super Bowl halftime show as #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay. Who can forget his last trip to the Super Bowl, in 2004, when Timberlake was responsible for Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction"?

All these posts highlighting Jackson's talent sure makes you wish the man in the woods would go back there and let Janet take the stage instead.

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The trending topic was first proposed by former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry with the intention of showcasing Jackson's influence as an artist and performer. People quickly took up the opportunity to share their love for the singer with GIFs, music videos, and personal stories.

The hashtag that slowly took over Super Bowl Sunday (it's outpacing #SuperBowl as of the writing of this post) also serves as a reminder of the injustice that took place in the wake of 2004's Nipplegate controversy.

During the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 1, 2004, Timberlake exposed Jackson's breast to 143.6 million viewers after unexpectedly ripping off part of her costume during their performance.

Timberlake came out of the incident largely unscathed (as demonstrated by his triumphant return to the stage tonight). Meanwhile, Jackson was forced to take full responsibility, apologize, and still ended up being blacklisted from radio stations and TV.

At the time, Timberlake was happy to stay quiet and let her suffer the brunt of America's outrage. He claims he's since made amends, but we're not buying it unless Jackson confirms that herself.

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Because of her sheer talent, Jackson still went on to release successful albums after the controversy, but only in spite of the music industry that tried to hang her out to dry. Her career never fully recovered. Now more than ever, it's important not to ignore the blatant sexism and racism embedded in the unequal backlash.

To add insult to injury, Timberlake made a career out of imitating the vocal and dance styles of famous black artists like Michael Jackson, Janet's late brother. That is until he decided to re-brand (four years too late) as a lumbersexual with his latest album, Man in the Woods.

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The Janet Jackson Appreciation Day hashtag is much more than just a brilliant way of throwing shade at Timberlake on his big game day. Showing Jackson the groundswell of support she still has could potentially lead to the huge comeback we all so desperately crave.

Missy Elliot experienced something similar after the 2015 Super Bowl, when her appearance in Beyonce's performance jump-started her career again.

Of course, Jackson still performs to this day -- and we can all truly show our appreciation by selling out every one of her upcoming shows. In the meantime, though, we'll soak up her incredible achievements through all the GIFs Twitter can muster.

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