(CelebrityAccess) — Pop star Justin Timberlake has been formally announced as the performer for the halftime entertainment during the 52nd Super Bowl, when it takes place at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 4.

Sponsored by Pepsi, the halftime festivities will be directed by Hamish Hamilton, who oversaw the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

The announcement confirms rumors that Timberlake had been in negotiations for the gig and comes despite Timberlake’s role as the “chief flavor officer” for Bai, one of Pepsi’s rivals in the beverage world.

This will be Timberlake’s third time performing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, giving him the distinction of having the most appearances by an individual entertainer.

He previously performed at Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 and infamously at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 when he sparked a national controversy after he accidentally exposed Janet Jackson’s breast on national television in what was later described as a ‘wardrobe malfunction.’

Jackson’s publicist later stated that Timberlake had only intended to pull away her outer clothing, revealing a red bra underneath, but said that the lace undergarment inadvertently came away with the outer layer, and vaulting the phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction’ into common parlance. At the time, Jackson seemed to catch the lion’s share of the blame for the incident, while Timberlake largely seemed to fly under the radar.

“I probably got 10 percent of the blame, and that says something about society. I think that America’s harsher on women. And I think that America is, you know, unfairly harsh on ethnic people,” Timberlake told MTV in 2006.

The incident, which became known, inevitably, as ‘Nipplegate’ drew criticism from viewers and scrutiny by the Federal Communications Commission, which slapped broadcaster CBS with a fine of $550,000, which was later overturned by an appeals court.