We don’t know why this was even a news story to begin with, to be honest.
But the media’s fixation with celebrity and anything vaguely linked to Islam obviously meant it ticked a few boxes.
Expectant mother Janet Jackson was photographed out for a stroll in London with her husband Wissam Al Manna wearing a black hooded garment.
The singer has just announced she’s pregnant at the age of 50 with her 41-year-old husband, who is also a Qatari billionaire.
British papers including the Mirror and the Mail ran with the ‘Janet Jackson spotted in full Islamic dress’ line and the photos were published around the world under similar headlines.
The media jumped to conclusions and then everyone else piled in with some pretty sweeping and depressing statements…
https://twitter.com/ibangel/status/790779077107994624
Janet Jackson in full Islamic ugliness! 50 yrs old having a baby, bringing a baby into the evil Moslem ideology. https://t.co/6uzEmEmbvW
— Katherine Grantham (@Katbox5Grantham) October 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/JimHumbert/status/790587135212544004
JANET JACKSON AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN HER BEFORE… Full Islamic dress…Give me a break! What an asshole!
— Jim (@A10Jim) October 24, 2016
Except there appeared to be one fundamental problem…it wasn’t an Islamic dress at all.
Nope. It was actually a ridiculously expensive Adidas Y-3 poncho, as many people on Twitter were all-too happy to point out.
https://twitter.com/Michael_Taylor_/status/790613208461615104
https://twitter.com/wardahkhalid_/status/790296742038089729
https://twitter.com/GregLabour/status/790521008495202305
The Mirror reports Janet Jackson wearing "full Islamic dress".. It's an Adidas poncho for men. #cringe pic.twitter.com/L791ybQU09
— Sad cringe (@sad_cringe) October 25, 2016
Laughing at Janet Jackson in 'full Islamic dress' which is actually a Y3 poncho
— Acre (@AcreUK) October 23, 2016
So we had a little look on Y-3’s website and there it was, all 980 worth….
It’s even got the same detailing on the front and back of it…
Buzzfeed France even went and asked Adidas and they pretty much confirmed it, saying…
“This poncho is a key piece of the AW16 collection, which features elongated silhouettes and patterns floating in a black which is the brand Y-3 factory.
This room, and the entire collection, were designed to appeal to everyone and does not specifically target Muslims. ”
If that didn’t convince you, then Jackson was actually photographed the day before in London with the same headband on buying some flowers…
Janet Jackson shops for flowers with her adorable baby bump in London https://t.co/eybfBLlSsA pic.twitter.com/6j6rUpihPA
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) October 21, 2016
And another photo of her hanging out with her husband in public without her poncho on…
