By Lisa de Moraes

Monday, February 2, 2004; Page C07

CBS really needs to swear off the Jackson family.

This time it was Janet giving the Viacom-owned network a headache, or rather her right breast, which made a surprise appearance during the AOL Super Bowl Halftime Show -- bet AOL sure is happy this morning that it attached its name forever to the most memorable Super Bowl halftime show ever.

MTV, also owned by Viacom, produced the halftime program, promising a surprise appearance during the show, which also featured P. "Puff" Diddy "Daddy" and Kid Rock, among others. But P. and Kid got totally upstaged when Justin Timberlake relieved Jackson of part of her sexy black costume, revealing her right breast, whose nipple was decorated with a piece of silver jewelry that looked like a sunburst.

As a result the move, some 72,000 fans in Reliant Stadium and an estimated 100 million watching around the world saw more of Janet than expected.

The network quickly cut away from the shot, and did not mention the incident on the air.

The "reveal" to end all reveals came toward the end of a number in which the two performed a dance that simulated sex and Timberlake promised, "I'll get you naked by the end of this song."

Justin Timberlake is a man of his word.

CBS spent the rest of the evening apologizing as its main New York switchboard lit up with complaints.

"We attended all rehearsals throughout the week and there was no indication any such thing would happen," CBS said in its statement.

"The moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended."

This is CBS's second recent run-in with the Jackson family. The network pulled a November sweeps music special starring Janet's brother Michael after a warrant was issued for his arrest on child molestation charges. The network said it would not run the special until after his trial but then reconsidered and rescheduled it after Jacko agreed to give an interview to CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes," leading to charges there had been a quid pro quo and, according to one published report, a cash exchange for that news interview.

A network insider insisted that nothing like last night's bodice-ripping had happened during rehearsals, which were closely watched by CBS suits to make sure there was no hanky-panky, except of course the simulated-sex dance. "That's why the rehearsals were so closely watched," the CBS insider said.

But while CBS was protesting its ignorance and innocence, MTV -- both are owned by Viacom, remember -- was still bragging about it as of midnight.

"Janet Gets Nasty!" MTV crowed on its Web site.

"Janet Jackson got nasty at the MTV-produced Super Bowl Halftime Show," the cable network boasted.

"Jaws across the country hit the carpet at exactly the same time. You know what we're talking about . . . Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and a kinky finale that rocked the Super Bowl to its core," the network enthused.

"MTV was Super Bowl central, so armchair quarterbacks, fair weather fanatics and fans of Janet Jackson and her pasties were definitely in the right place."

MTV's Web coverage goes on to say that "the organizers of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show had hoped that a surprise guest would get people talking long after the game, but they wound up with one more surprise than they had bargained for."

Bad boy Timberlake, however, apparently reconsidered the play -- maybe he got worried that CBS would uninvite him from performing at next Sunday's Grammy Awards. Timberlake said he did not intend to expose Jackson's breast, calling it a "wardrobe malfunction."

The NFL did not share MTV's enthusiasm for the halftime surprise, saying in a statement that "it's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."

That's AOL Super Bowl Halftime.

MTV did issue a statement saying the incident was "unrehearsed," and "completely unintentional."