Singer blasts NFL
for pulling him from
Pro Bowl halftime show
NEW YORK >> *N Sync's JC Chasez unleashed a scathing indictment of the NFL yesterday for yanking him from the Pro Bowl halftime show, then asking him to sing the national anthem instead, because of the unexpected breast display during the Super Bowl.
"I have had a great relationship with the NFL in the past and feel that I have been mistreated," Chasez said in a statement, adding that he will not sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Sunday's annual all-star game in Honolulu.
In an interview later, he said of the Super Bowl uproar, "I never in my wildest dreams thought it would affect me."
The 27-year-old pop star initially was to have performed "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," off his upcoming album, at halftime. Chasez said that the song isn't sexual: "It's about teasing and flirting."
After the Super Bowl halftime show, in which Chasez's band-mate, Justin Timberlake, tore off a piece of Janet Jackson's top, exposing her breast, the NFL re-evaluated Chasez's planned performance.
The singer said the NFL expressed concern over some of his lyrics and asked him to change his song choice to "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)," off the "Drumline" soundtrack.
"I decided to be obliging. I wanted to go with the flow, and I wanted to be a team player; I wanted to come to the NFL's rescue," Chasez said in the interview. "If that's what it will take to put out a fire, then fine, I'll do the 'Drumline' song."
That also proved problematic because the latter song contains the words "horny" and "naughty," which Chasez said he reluctantly agreed to change. He was later removed from the halftime show entirely and replaced by hula dancers, drummers, conch shell blowers and local singers, who were to have been the pre-game entertainment.
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the Pro Bowl, said: "We saw what happened on Sunday, and Monday we took a look at what the performance would have been in terms of the music and dancing. We just felt it was inappropriate as we're being extremely cautious in light of what happened at the Super Bowl."
Chasez said in his statement: "While I agree the mishap at the Super Bowl was a huge mistake, the NFL's shallow effort to portray my music as sexually indecent brings to mind another era when innocent artists were smeared with a broad brush by insecure but powerful people. That's not the America I love, nor is this the NFL I love. I'll sing the national anthem any time, anywhere, but not for this NFL."
McCarthy's response: "We're not going to debate him. We made our decision and we're going to move on."
Chasez also complained that he passed on a chance to be at Sunday's Grammy Awards because of his planned Pro Bowl appearance.
Pro Bowl