Janet Jackson Says Exposure an Accident

March 31 -- Janet Jackson's concert on Good Morning America had been scheduled long before her Super Bowl fiasco. Looking back, the embattled singer never imagined the significance a live TV performance could take on.

Before singing a tune from her new album, Damita Jo, on Good Morning America, Jackson recalled returning to her Houston hotel room just after that infamous halftime performance with Justin Timberlake, watching the controversy unfold on TV.

"There was a headline talking about Justin and I being arrested in Houston possibly, I was just so taken aback," Jackson said. "I didn't know that it had escalated."

Now, after three months of brutal criticism and scrutiny, Jackson is returning to the public eye. "It made me stronger," Jackson now says. "That's what it did. It made me much stronger."

"There are people who wanted me to take certain things off the album, but that would be changing who I am and I'll never do that for anyone," she says.

One More Time: ‘It Truly Was an Accident’

Jackson has long been an artist who delicately walked the fine line between risqué and raunchy, but since her infamous "wardrobe malfunction" she's had to deal with an unprecedented controversy.

Jackson maintains that she never intended to expose her breast. "I've never done anything like that," she says.

"It truly was an accident. And, like I said, there was nothing you could do about it. You just have to roll with the punches and move on."

Despite early news reports, Jackson and Timberlake never faced criminal charges. The incident, however, sent the Federal Communications Commission and the country into an uproar.

Friends and family helped Jackson cope with the intense pressue. She says that her mother was especially supportive, telling her, "I know you're a strong woman and just keep the faith and it will pass."