Janet Jackson alleged nude video hits web, denies secret child

LOS ANGELES - No one can blame this on a wardrobe malfunction.

A video clip that purportedly shows pop singer Janet Jackson sunbathing in the nude was circulating on the Internet last Thursday. 

Jackson's manager in Los Angeles declined to comment on the footage and referred queries to the singer's New Jersey-based publicist, who did not immediately return repeated phone calls.

The video appears to have been shot surreptitiously through an opening in a fence surrounding an outdoor enclosure where the subject was lying on a chaise lounge.

In a 34-second version of the clip playing on one Web site, called ThisWebsiterules.com, a woman who appears to be Jackson is first seen lying on her back, tapping her hands beside her and moving her head back and forth as if listening to music.

At one point, she appears to be rubbing lotion on her upper body, then her face is revealed as she sits up slightly. The woman is then shown lying facing down and reaching behind her to tap her buttocks rhythmically.

Another site, iFilm.com, had posted the video earlier but late Thursday was running a message that said: "Out of respect for Ms. Jackson, this film has been removed from IFILM.com."

Jackson, 39, sparked a firestorm of controversy in February 2004 when she bared a breast at the end of a Super Bowl halftime performance with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake, broadcast live on CBS.

Public outrage over the brief flash of nudity, initially blamed on a "wardrobe malfunction," sparked a Federal Communications probe, congressional action to stiffen fines for broadcast indecency and an industry-wide crackdown on sexually explicit material on TV and radio.

Jackson made headlines on Wednesday with a statement, issued through the TV show "Access Hollywood," denying claims that she secretly had a daughter 18 years ago with fellow singer James DeBarge, to whom she was briefly married.

That claim was made by her former brother-in-law, Young DeBarge, during a radio interview last week.

- REUTERS