The lingering stink of the infamous 2004 SUPER BOWL halftime show isn't that 100-million-plus US viewers saw a black woman's right breast for nine-sixteenths of a second after a white man ripped open her bustier, but that 100-million-plus US viewers, the network that broadcast the show, the FCC and politicians and cultural critics around the country spent the next decade naming, blaming and shaming the woman, and only the woman. The woman, a pop superstar, lost her performance slot on the GRAMMY AWARDS, broadcast a week later on the same network, and was pressured into not even showing up. The man, also a pop superstar, performed twice on that Grammys telecast, won two awards and, in a third-person apology while he was accepting one of them, said his own carefully if poorly staged bodice-ripping stunt was unintentional and regrettable. That half-second of television, during which no one could see anything of R-rated value without hitting the pause button and squinting, has haunted the woman's career ever since, and may well have played a part in a steady decline of both record sales and airplay. It had no noticeable effect on the man's career, which continued to blossom in both music and film. The woman, who initially apologized, alone, for what happened, later accused the man of hanging her out to dry. It took the man three years to publicly acknowledge he hadn't received a fair share of the blame—that was the fault of "society," he said—and another two years to say, "I wish I had been there more for JANET." Now is his chance. In what JEZEBEL snarkily labeled "a decision thematically consistent with the rest of 2017," the man has been invited back as the headliner for next year's halftime show. The fact that the announcement had been rumored makes it no less jaw-dropping. As recently as 2014, the NFL remained eager to go on the record to make clear there was no way the woman would be welcome back. The stink continues to linger. If the man truly wants to be there for her, he has from now until Feb. 4 to figure out a meaningful way to do so. "That won't happen this time," he told NBC's MIKE TIRICO Sunday night when asked about the 2004 episode (NBC has the broadcast rights to next year's game). Both men laughed. Neither mentioned the woman. Here's one easy way to make sure it won't happen this time: Invite JANET JACKSON to share the stage and don't rip open her shirt. There are plenty of other ways to sincerely be there for her. Pick one. Or two. Don't blow this last opportunity… Don't.Touch.SOLANGE's.Hair... ALAN JACKSON, DON SCHLITZ and JERRY REED enter COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME... RIP GEORGE YOUNG of the EASYBEATS and FLASH & THE PAN (and a guiding force in AC/DC), MARTIN ERIC AIN of CELTIC FROST, DAISY BERKOWITZ of MARILYN MANSON and HOWARD CARROLL of the DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS… Best wishes to GENESIS P-ORRIDGE.