Justin Timberlake entered the news cycle in 2021, but not for reasons he might
have hoped. The singer-actor has come under fire for some of his past behavior after the
release of The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears documentary,
which aired in February. Here's a look back at some of his most controversial moments.
During Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl Halftime performance,
he pulled at the fabric on her costume, exposing her breast. The incident blew over
quickly for Timberlake, but in contrast, it drastically changed Jackson's career.
Soon after, The New York Times reported that she was supposed
to present at the Grammy Awards. However, production sources said,
"[Jackson] would either step down herself or be asked to step down."
Conversely, JT performed, and won two Grammys. During an acceptance speech, he said,
"I know it's been a rough week on everybody. What occurred was unintentional,
completely regrettable and I apologize if you guys are offended."
However, there was no mention of how rough it was for Jackson, who wasn't at the ceremony.
In a 2006 interview, Jackson told Oprah Winfrey,
"All the emphasis was put on me, not on Justin."
She considered him to be her friend, but they apparently haven't spoken since that night.
Jackson then vaguely stated that there are, quote, "certain things you just don't do to friends."
When Timberlake was announced as the 2018 halftime show performer,
some people were outraged, with one tweeting,
"Not to be negative, but why is Justin playing the
superbowl and Janet is still blacklisted? #JusticeForJanet.
In 2018, women wore black to the Golden Globe Awards in support
of the Time's Up initiative against sexual misconduct.
Prior to the show, Timberlake shared an Instagram selfie with his wife, Jessica Biel, writing,
"Here we come!! And DAMN, my wife is hot! #TIMESUP #whywewearblack."
Some social media users felt that caption was tone deaf, with one tweeting,
"Doesn't 'DAMN, my wife is hot' play right into
the whole reason for the #WhyWeWearBlack campaign?"
Someone else tweeted,
"You can't say #TIMESUP right after you just did a movie with Woody Allen,
knowing everything horrific he has done."
Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused the director of sexual abuse in
2014.Timberlake worked with Allen on the 2017 movie, Wonder Wheel.
According to another Twitter user,
"You can't work with abusers and condemn them at the same time!!! it doesn't work that way!!!"
Despite pushback from Farrow and some disgruntled tweeters, Timberlake's career persisted.
In the early 2000s, Britney Spears shared her desire to remain a virgin until marriage.
After Spears and Timberlake split in 2002,
Timberlake appeared on Hot 97's Star and Buc Wild Morning Show, where he was asked,
"Did you f--- Britney Spears?"
He confessed with a laugh, saying,
"Okay, yeah I did it!"
Timberlake later discussed that radio interview with Rolling Stone, claiming,
"I thought, 'Well, maybe that's the sense of humor here.' But anybody who listened
to that show has to know it's a joke. [...] They were promising me spins on the radio,
so I was just pimping spins. I thought it was funny as hell. That's just my sense of humor."
Meanwhile, during a 20/20 interview, Barbara Walters quoted Spears as saying,
"Good morals mean waiting [...] until after you've been married." Walters then asked Timberlake :
"Did you and she live up to this during your relationship?"
“Sure, Sure.”
Spears later told W magazine,
"I thought he was the one. But I was wrong! I didn't think he
was gonna go on Barbara Walters sell me out."
In 2002, Justin Timberlake released the "Cry Me A River" music video, which featured a
Britney Spears look-alike. The song and video both strongly implied that Spears cheated.
Spears later told Rolling Stone that Timberlake asked
for her blessing for the video without revealing any context.
She recalled,
"I hadn't seen it. Then it came out, and I said, 'I should've freakin' said no to this s---!'"
She described it as, quote, "such a desperate attempt" and "a great way to sell the record."
During an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, Timberlake explained,
"The video is not about her. The video is about me."
During his 2002 Barbara Walters interview, he performed a never-released ballad in the
middle of a discussion about his split from Spears, where he sang,
"Hey girl, at least you gave me another song about a horrible woman."
But that wasn't the only time Timberlake seemingly sang about Spears. In 2006,
Timberlake dropped "What Goes Around... Comes Around," which had the lines,
"You spend your nights alone / And he never comes home."
According to People, this was right in the midst of rumors that Spears' then-husband
Kevin Federline's partying was the last straw leading to their divorce.
In December 2019, The Sun shared photos and videos
of Justin Timberlake in New Orleans with his Palmer co-star, Alisha Wainwright.
An eyewitness said,
"At one stage he grabbed her hand and rested it on
his knee. She then gently started stroking his leg."
Shortly after the photos emerged, Timberlake issued a written apology via Instagram.
He told his followers,
"I feel it is important to address recent rumors that are hurting the people I love."
Describing his behavior as, quote, "a strong lapse in judgement," the
singer-actor emphasized that nothing happened between him and Wainwright.
However, Timberlake admitted,
"I drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior. [...] I apologize to
my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation."
Timberlake continued, noting that he was, quote, "focused on being the best husband and father."
Unbeknownst to the world, Biel was pregnant at the time,
and gave birth to the couple's second son eight months after those photos surfaced.
In 2013, Justin Timberlake dropped the single "Take Back the Night."
The song's title was problematic, because Take Back the Night is also the name of
an organization, which according its official website, strives to,
"End sexual assault, domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual abuse and all forms of sexual violence.”
The organization threatened legal action against Timberlake for using its trademarked name,
with Executive Director Katherine Koestner telling Rolling Stone,
"It just shows how far we have to go when Take Back the Night as a historic movement to end
sexual violence in all forms is still not widely enough known,
according to Mr. Timberlake, that he claims he didn't know that we existed."
In addition to violating trademarks, Koestner took issue with the song's message, remarking,
"In reading the lyrics [...] They're clearly sexual, but they're not about
sexual assault — so I think the problem may be just confusion with how an overtly sexual song
matches with the mission of ending sexual violence."
Timberlake released an apology statement to Radar,
noting that the song and its lyrics, quote, “don't have any association with the organization."
He concluded,
"It is my hope that this coincidence will bring more awareness to this cause."
According to BET, in August 2014, Justin Timberlake tweeted, and then deleted,
"A happiest of B-days to my mother chucking ninja, @Madonna!! Hope you have a great one, M!"
The post sparked immediate backlash,
with people believing Timberlake was using the word ninja to replace the N-word.
The timing for Timberlake's tweet couldn't have been any worse, since it was shortly
after the Black Lives Matter protests turned violent in Ferguson Missouri,
following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
One person tweeted,
"Justin Timberlake chose *this* week to call Madonna 'my ninja'? I just can't."
Instead of saying sorry, Timberlake retweeted a post, which said,
"The world is watching #Ferguson."
Nevertheless, Timberlake's career didn't face any consequences from this error in judgement.
In 2016, Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams received The Humanitarian
Award at The BET Awards. During his speech, Williams denounced people for,
"Burying Black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture,
our dollars, our entertainment like oil. Black gold. [...] Ghettoizing
and demeaning our creations, then stealing them, gentrifying our genius, then trying
us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit."
Apparently, that speech resonated with Justin Timberlake, who tweeted,
"@iJesseWilliams tho... #Inspired"
Many Twitter users took issue with Timberlake, including journalist Ernest Owens, who asked,
"So does this mean you're going to stop appropriating our music and culture?
And apologize to Janet [Jackson] too."
As reported by People, Timberlake replied, and soon deleted,
"Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same,
the more we can have a conversation. Bye."
Following the backlash, the Grammy winner took to Twitter with,
"I apologize to anyone that felt I was out
of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US."
Justin Timberlake has served up many hair moments throughout his career,
from his natural curls, to a buzz cut, and many styles in between. However,
only one style truly caused controversy: his decision to sport cornrows as a white male.
Timberlake has never actually apologized for rocking this style, which originated within
the Black community, but he did sort of address the move during a 2011 interview with Playboy.
When asked if he had, quote, "any particular fashion regrets," Timberlake joked,
"God, I feel I've gone to therapy just to erase some of them.
The cornrows I wore with 'N Sync. That was pretty bad."
Unfortunately for Timberlake, those mistakes will be on the internet
forever, while continuing to upset many people.
One person tweeted in 2018,
"When, say, Justin Timberlake has cornrows while black folks with cornrows are stigmatized and
treated as potential or probable criminals, that's cultural appropriation—Timberlake profits with
his 'cool' hairstyle, while the black folks who started doing the style are punished."
With so many of Timberlake's past mistakes resurfacing, many eyes are on the singer-actor
to see how he behaves post-Instagram apology. We hope Timberlake truly learned some lessons
in 2021 — because, if not, he may just find out that "What Goes Around... Comes Around."
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