Super Bowl XXXVIII – which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004 from Houston, Texas on the CBS television network in the United States – was noted for a controversial halftime show in which Janet Jackson's breast, adorned with a nipple shield, was exposed by Justin Timberlake for about half a second, in what was later referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction". The incident, sometimes referred to as Nipplegate, was widely discussed. Along with the rest of the halftime show, it led to an immediate crackdown and widespread debate on perceived indecency in broadcasting. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined CBS a record US$550,000 which was fought in the Supreme Court, but that fine was appealed and ultimately voided by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2011 ruling, and a case to reinstate the fine was refused in 2012.

The incident was ridiculed both within the United States and abroad, with a number of commentators considering the incident a pre-planned publicity stunt, and American commentators in particular viewing it as a sign of decreasing morality in American culture, while others considered the incident harmless and argued that it received an undue amount of attention and backlash. The increased regulation of broadcasting raised concerns regarding censorship and free speech in the United States, and the FCC increased the fine per indecency violation from US$27,500 to US$325,000 shortly after the event. The halftime show that year was produced by MTV and was themed around the network's Choose or Lose campaign due to the event occurring during a presidential election year. Following the wardrobe incident, the National Football League (NFL) announced that MTV, which also produced the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXV, would not be involved in any halftime shows in the future. The exposure was broadcast to a total audience of 143.6 million viewers.

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