Justin Timberlake admits he 'stumbled' during the 'Nipplegate' controversy

The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show's 'Nipplegate' was truly the Watergate of sports broadcasting: Where were you when Justin Timberlake unexpectedly exposed Janet Jackson's breast to 143.6 million viewers on live television -- seemingly, to her utter surprise?

In a new interview with Beats 1's Zane Lowe, Timberlake addressed the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" known as Nipplegate, in light of his preparations to return to the stage for Super Bowl LII.

The singer admitted that he "stumbled through" the aftermath of the scandal, vaguely addressing criticisms that he didn't do enough to defend Jackson from the disproportionate backlash she received.

“I had my wires crossed and it’s just something that you have to look back on and go like, ‘OK, well you know, you can’t change what’s happened but you can move forward and learn from it,’” Timberlake said, decked in the beanie and flannel that signal his rebrand as a woodsy hipster.

It's not entirely clear what aspect of the situation Timberlake is saying he can "learn" from. But he makes sure to assert that Jackson is totally not mad at him.

“I don’t know that a lot of people know that [me and Janet made peace]," he claims. "I mean I don’t think it’s my job to do that, because you value the relationships that you do have with people.”

It's important to note that Jackson has not publicly commented on her feelings towards Timberlake in recent history.

After the incident, she was not only forced to apologize and take full blame, but was also barred from award shows -- like that year's Grammys (Timberlake still attended) -- and also had her music blacklisted from the most influential radio stations and TV networks of the time (Timberlake did not).

In a 2006 MTV interview, long after it could actually help Jackson, Timberlake expressed regret that he'd failed to stand by her while she suffered the lion's share of the consequences.

But in the age of #FreeTheNipple campaigns and the Time's Up initiative, we can now look back at the clear misogyny and racism at play. The public vilified Jackson, pinning the supposed moral degradation of society on a single (briefly) exposed nipple.

And those who clamored to shame and blame her didn't once stop to ask, "Hang on -- wasn't it Timberlake who actually, physically ripped off the costume? And didn't Jackson look shocked and mortified about it before immediately running off stage?"

There's still a lot of mystery around what exactly happened. But you know what isn't a mystery? The reason why Timberlake's career continued to soar, while Jackson's never came close to recovering.

Fourteen years later, and Timberlake has been invited back with open arms to the scene of the Nipplegate crime. But where's Janet Jackson's big comeback halftime show?