Justin Timberlake cries a river, releases late-arriving apology to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson
Aux Features Justin Timberlake
It’s amazing how nearly two decades, a searing documentary, and some robust public shaming can really put some things into perspective.
It’s been a week since the premiere of the Framing Britney Spears, the latest installment of The New York Times Presents docuseries for FX. Since it aired, the public has shown immense support for Spears and understandable ire for some of the key players in her visible downfall, including Jamie Spears, members of the media, and ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who participated in the misogyny that essentially vilified Spears for years (including the revenge fantasy video for his 2002 hit “Cry Me A River”). The clanking of the pitchforks must have reached an unavoidable decibel, because Timberlake has finally taken a moment to apologize not only to Spears, but also to Janet Jackson, whose career never fully recovered after her ill-fated Super Bowl performance with Timberlake back in 2004.
“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond,” Timberlake begins in a two-part Instagram post that was released on Friday. “I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right. I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many other an benefitted from a system that condones misogyny and racism.” He then went on to apologize directly to the women in question: “I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Timberlake continued his statement by criticizing how the entertainment industry “sets men, especially white men, up for success.” He also acknowledged his “privileged position,” which has allowed him to prosper while Spears battled the restrictions of her conservatorship and Jackson withstood unjust criticism for her famous “wardrobe malfunction”—a term that rose in our pop culture lexicon after Timberlake erroneously tore away a section of her top on public television—by herself. “I didn’t’ recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life,” he explained, “I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.”
The apology is objectively well-written and addresses (to an extent) what Timberlake’s critics have been saying for years. But that’s the thing: His many critics have been addressing this very subject for years. Back in 2016, writer Matt Stopera detailed for Buzzfeed the ways Timberlake specifically used the anti-Britney narrative in order to elevate his public image long after their split. When Timberlake nabbed his own Super Bowl Halftime set two years later, Twitter took the opportunity to declare the day (and every Super Bowl Day since) #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay, where fans expressed their love for the icon and pointed out that Jackson, despite apologizing, hasn’t been invited back to the event since. So if there’s some skepticism regarding the sincerity of Timberlake’s apology, it’s not because it’s not a good apology: It’s because it’s an apology he’s had ample time to release and it arrives not only years late, but conveniently after the public stopped talking about his middling film and started talking about the doc that made him look shitty.
In any case, we love a good redemption arc, which Timberlake could earn in the coming months or years. But he has to actually earn it.
98 Comments
Trolls World Tour star Justin Timberlake cries a river, releases late-arriving apology to Britney Spears and Janet JacksonThat’s better. Fuck that guy and his unfunny SNL appearances and shitty music.
He doesn’t owe anybody an apology and certainly not a public one.
The Janet Jackson criticism is fair to me. He totally skated on that and took no responsibility for his part in it. I don’t remember him ever really coming to her defense. But the criticism for the Britney stuff strikes me as weird. Is he not allowed to write songs about his own life and relationships? Can he not answer questions honestly when asked? Is he not allowed to have bitter feelings towards an ex who may have cheated on him? It’s fair to acknowledge, as he did, that our society is racist and misogynistic and that he benefited from being a white man. But what exactly did he do wrong other than be honest? The linked Buzzfeed article compares him to Taylor Swift and fair enough I suppose, but Taylor Swift shouldn’t have gotten the shit she did for singing about her personal life either.
Fully agreed. How many great songs have been written about breakups or bad relationships? Should Carly Simon be forced to retract “You’re So Vain” by this logic?
Some of my favorite albums are breakup albums. I get that it feels different when both partners are extremely famous and we all know exactly who is being referenced. But it’s hardly fair to say that you’re not allowed to write honestly about your own life once you and/or your partner reach a certain level of pain. Lots of celebrities have written tell-all books and haven’t gotten raked over the coals nearly as hard as Justin is in that Buzzfeed article. Just Britney stans lashing out.
I guess it’s a bit different because her song wasn’t kicking someone who was already down.
Hmm…said song was released in 2002. Was she ‘down’ then? In 2002 she was cruising along just fine I thought? Didn’t her bad years come later on in the decade?I honestly don’t know my Britney timelines.
egad, can you imagine fleetwood mac making ‘rumours’ in the modern era?
As a big Fleetwood Mac hater, I dream of it not being made at all…“Can you picture a world without Fleetwood Mac?”
My understanding is that she has been famously reticent in sharing to whom that song refers.
I agree on the Britney stuff. I don’t know all the details, but this article pointed to a song and video. He should apologize for art and feelings? I’m probably missing something.
The linked Buzzfeed article enumerates all his alleged sins. It’s just him supposedly profiting off the public interest in their relationship. And they’re right that he did. But it was his relationship too. He’s allowed to do that if he wants to.
if i recall correctly (and i probably don’t), he was rather indelicate about some things. like being douchey about ‘taking’ her virginity, etc.
Maybe so. There’s a clip linked in the Buzzfeed article where he laughs when Barbara Walters asks if they remained virgins throughout their relationship. But I mean, what else is he supposed to do with that question?
I see, thank you. Yeah if that’s what it’s about, then every successful musician has profited from a broken relationship (and worse tragedies than that). Plus your ex’s problems are no longer your responsibility.
Not saying I disagree on anything but are we really at the point where a Buzzfeed article that reads like one of the tabloids it uses as part of its proof is a good source of info? Like that is some slanted ass writing if I’ve ever seen it.The internet is such garbage nowadays. Articles which seem built to be a slideshow ad on Facebook are now being linked to on previously reputable sites.
Cecily Strong at White House Correspondents Dinner:
“Buzzfeed is here. But I can give you a listicle of 15 reasons why they shouldn’t be.”
Oh I’m not saying it’s a good article at all. Definitely seems like it was written in anger by a hardcore Britney fan. I’m just saying that it’s a useful rundown of why people are upset at him. Whether he actually did the things he’s accused of in the article or whether it reads like it was initially scrawled in crayon before an editor got ahold of it are side questions.
This has been stirred up by the Framing Britney doc that aired last week (I think its on Hulu). It’s a doc mostly about what led to Britney Spears’ spiral and people taking advantage of her (like her conservatorship). The doc spends some time talking about her and JT’s relationship, how he benefited and capitalized on the break up and society essentially slut shammed her even though she never did anything wrong. And people go after JT because he never did anything to come to her defense. His silence played a part in letting it go on. So that’s a bit more background about where this is coming from
The real question for me then is did she cheat on him? I just looked the lyrics up and that seems to be the accusation. That’s not ‘slut shaming’ if you’re hurt when you’ve been cheated on. BUT if she didn’t cheat and he’s just slandering her, then FUCK HIM.Like I said below I’m not well versed in the 2000’s Pop universe, so I’ll gladly admit if I’m wrong due to lack of knowledge.
You might want to watch the video before deciding if you’ve never seen it, because it was a total Britney-lookalike in the video. It was 100% clear who he was singing about.
The actress cast for it has her face visible for a fraction of a second at the very end of the video:And otherwise this is the clearest shot of her:It’s ultimately irrelevant because everyone knew anyway, he really only had that one high-profile relationship and everyone knew they’d broken up… so it was assumed. My memory was that the brief shot above tipped it over from thinking “this could be a generic breakup song,” to “this is probably about Britney.”
That’s not necessary. It’s his video, his art. If he truly feels the need to apologize, that’s up to JT. It rings hollow to me because it comes on the heels of the doc and the Daily Beast article. As for Britney, she’s a public figure and fair game for being impersonated in a video. It’s definitely a butt hurt thing to do, IMO, to make a revenge fantasy song/video about your ex. But like I said, your ex’s problems are not your problems.
It’s the rare guy who gets to enlist the entire viewing public in getting back at the girl who cheated on him. One should use the power carefully. He may genuinely recognize with the the hindsight offered by age and maturity that it was kind of a dick move to set about ruining her reputation when she did something that’s not particularly unusual.
I’m not super invested in all this like some are, but just based on reading stuff over the years, I’ve always gotten the impression that Britney and JT are still on good terms. So while I do feel like JT could have handled himself better back then and support any real efforts he makes to better himself, I also feel like if Britney herself is cool with their relationship, others should be too and shouldn’t be out here demanding retribution against JT on her behalf. If she’s fine with it and still friends with him, mind your own business.
I think the only reason Swift got so much shit is because it became a steady stream of new boyfriend, new break up, new song about awful ex. Then it gets viewed as you last boyfriend was an asshole, I’m with you. Your last six boyfriends were assholes, maybe you’re the asshole.
I guess. But she was also really young. Most relationships aren’t meant to last when you’re that age. Doubly so if one or both of you are famous. I’m sure there are plenty of young women her age who have dated more assholes than she has. Their LiveJournals just don’t get as much press.
I agree with you. I just think that’s what the perception became. Every time she started dating someone, you knew a song was coming. It became a meme. A guy you dated for two weeks probably isn’t song worthy.
I would also question how culpable he is in the Jackson thing as well. By all accounts the “tearing” was scripted ahead of time and she agreed to it but that the costume ripped incorrectly and revealed more than was intended (a malfunction of wardrobe, if you will). That’s not on him, that’s on the costume designer. And what happened afterward is almost entirely the doing of Les Moonvas and the NFL, they’re the ones people should demand an apology from. Could Timberlake have done more to “speak up for her.” Possibly, but I doubt that actually would have helped her at all and at the end of the day it’s not really his job to be her PR manager.
It’s not his job, but I’d argue that coming to the defense of someone getting more blame than you or for something that you were both responsible for is the decent thing to do. You’re probably right that he couldn’t have totally prevented the backlash against her, but he could have helped at least a little bit it I think. And he certainly could have refused to return to the Super Bowl until she was invited as well or at least offered an apology by the people who treated her so badly.
I’m pretty sure he needed the Super Bowl more than the Super Bowl needed him at that point. Had he pulled a publicity stunt like that it would have done little or nothing to belated help Jackson and would have just robbed him of an opportunity.
Yeah he could have prevented the backlash against Janet but instead he seemed to have ran with the backlash towards him from the people on Janet’s side.Here is a verse from “Give It to Me.” Written by Timbaland. This is Justin’s verse on the song. When it came out some people speculated it was a diss towards Janet and the album she made around 2007 I believe. So it’s not like he was trying to make any amends at all cuz he felt she was taking shots at him.“Could you speak up and stop the mumbling
I don’t think you’re getting clear.
Sitting on the top it’s hard to hear you from way up here.
I saw you tryin to act cute on tv just let me clear the air.
We missed you on the charts last week
Damn that’s right, you wasn’t there”
Fun Pop Qwiz: Who played in that Super Bowl? Who was MVP?
Patriots and Panthers. MVP, probably Tom Brady.
It’s super fucked up that a man pulled off a boob cup on tv, exposing her breast, and yet somehow the woman is the only one punished for it.Not the man who exposed her, who did the action, just the woman who was victimized and exposed.That alone tells you how fucked up it was. It should have been a discussion about how could Justin expose a woman on live tv (well actually it should have been no big fucking deal but here we are) rather than how could that slutty woman force a man to show her breast on tv. If anything he’s MORE culpable because he actually DID something.
There was no “wardrobe malfunction”, the ripping went off exactly as intended, with the nipple covered by a piece of jewlery. No more lewd than you’d see at a burlesque show – and in perfect sync with the “gonna have you naked by the end of the song”. This extremely PG-rated titilation was just too much for puritanical America.
Watch the doc. it goes beyond the song.
The doc doesn’t really interest me. It’s still just tabloid journalism even if it’s a positive portrayal rather than a negative one. I read the Buzzfeed article though, so I think I have a pretty good idea what people are mad at him about. If “ was publicly rude to an ex who cheated on you,” is your worst sin, you’re doing alright.
Where is the evidence she cheated on him?
I don’t necessarily know that she did. But he’s made vague allusions that seem to point in that direction. Either way, it’s pretty normal to be bitter at an ex.
It’s not normal to sit by and watch as the insinuations you made in your songs spur fans and media on to cast her as a cheating whore
If she didn’t actually cheat, then I suppose that would be true. But why are you assuming that she didn’t? You can presume her innocence if you want, but you’re presuming that Timberlake is guilty.
Where’s the evidence that Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks cheated on each other? They’re songs, we take them at face value.
Which was the reason the media cast Spears as a cheater who broke Timberlake’s heart for years so maybe taking a man’s word about a woman at face value isn’t a great idea
When someone makes an accusation, you take it at face value. It’s “believe victims” not just “women victims.” When Taylor Swift says she was wronged by an ex, I assume she’s telling the truth. Same with Al Green about his ex wife, same with Joan Jett about Cherie Curie, same with anyone. Justin Timberlake wrote a song about getting wronged, which was never refuted. The way he skated on the Janet Jackson Super Bowl bullshit is wretched but this isn’t that. Hurt kids write songs about heartbreak, end of story.
While there’s nothing wrong with writing break-up songs (that’s what 90% of pop music IS), there’s another element here which is: he went around at the time proclaiming to whoever would listen (which was everybody) that he had taken her virginity, and slut-shaming her for the cheating he claims happened. And when she was at her lowest, he delighted in singing Rehab directly aimed at her.
“Cry Me a River” is not the problem here. It’s just a catchy symbol.
I agree that it’s gross to joke about taking someone’s virginity. Though I’m curious as to whether you have an actual source for that because I haven’t come across those comments.I completely disagree that being mad at someone for cheating on you is “slut-shaming.” The shameful part isn’t a woman having sex. It’s having sex with someone out of the bounds of your supposedly monogamous relationship. Feminism shouldn’t be used as a cover for being an asshole to your partner.
Well, I don’t exactly keep a list of JT interviews XD But it’s all well documented, I’m sure you’ll find lots of stuff on google.And I agree with you: being mad that your partner cheated on you is VERY different from “slut shaming”, I worded it poorly (and I’m certainly not using feminism to excuse cheating, I resent that remark). But he did make extraordinarily ugly remarks about her for an extermely long time, I watched it all throughout the years (I was already an adult when the “cheating scandal” happened). The truth is that JT’s career profited ENORMOUSLY from him coming out as “the wronged party”, and we all know society and the media are quick to comdemn women and support men. JT used it shamelessly — if “What goes around”, recorded FOUR years after “Cry me a river”, is not proof of how long he spent milking it, I truly don’t know what is.
There’s lots of stuff you have every right to do that you might feel bad about after you do it, particularly when the person you were angry with subsequently went into a life spiral that she still hasn’t entirely pulled out of, regardless of whether that spiral was your fault. For what it’s worth, I think the regrettable thing for him might not be the song, so much as the video, which really made it explicit that he was singing about Spears. Usually, break up songs have the fig leaf that even if everyone knows who you’re singing about, they’re not named. That’s usually part of the art (and fun) of the breakup song, is the singer telling you who they’re talking about without naming them.
That’s fair. I’m not against him apologizing if he feels bad about how things went down. I’m just against everyone acting like he’s history’s greatest monster and everything that happened to her was his fault.
What Goes Around Come Around is a better Timberlake song/video anyway from that period, even if it has that weird “live action drama interludes” bits in the middle of the music video which always kinda drive me crazy. Looks great, though.
I never was a fan of his music. But people seem to like it.
I don’t know, I have to say I always assigned the majority of the backlash against Janet Jackson on stupid prudish American conservatism (and honestly bought the “wardrobe malfunction” explanation, never thought it was planned, or a calculated move), especially that smug fuck heading the FCC at the time. It’s still appropriate for him to apologize for ducking away from all heat and leaving it all on her, though.
Our society is racist, misogynistic, and benefits white men.Got it. lulz…
I also don’t see why whatever apology he gave gets to be deemed ‘too little, too late’ by a third-party publication. Hey, AV Club: he’s not apologizing to you, or the general public for that matter. The people he’s apologizing to can judge for themselves on the merits or timeliness of said apology. This is pure tabloid editorializing, made worse by moral grandstanding.
He can answer honestly if he wants to, or he can choose not to provide details of his personal life. We as a society are culpable for wanting details, and he is culpable for gleefully providing them. No one has done anything illegal in this exchange of information, just icky.People sometimes cheat in relationships. Women cheat. Men cheat. There is no reason that their cheating should be the one thing that defines them in the public eye. I don’t think any of us would want our unedited behavior as teens or young adults to be broadcast for the world to see.
It’s his life though. He’s free to share those details with whoever he wants in whatever way he wants, not just legally but morally. Timberlake wasn’t a paparazzo digging through other people’s trash to expose their secrets. He was a man speaking honestly about his own past relationship. I agree that someone cheating shouldn’t brand them for life in the eyes of the world, but it’s absolutely fair for it to color the way the person they cheated on views them and talks about them. I honestly find it pretty hypocritical for people who’ve cheered on women sharing stories of abuse and mistreatment turning on a man for vaguely alluding to the mistreatment he may have suffered. When Ben Affleck cheats on Jennifer Garner, he’s the bad guy. But when Britney Spears cheats on Justin Timberlake, somehow he’s the bad guy for not keeping totally mum about it? She was young, but so was he. She shouldn’t have to wear a scarlet letter the rest of her life, but it’s not his responsibility to convince the world to forgive her. And in point of fact, none of the tabloid coverage during her most tumultuous years focused on their relationship or her alleged cheating anyway. It was all about her “crazy” behavior in the present day, not still blaming her for a long dead relationship. The anger towards Timberlake is misplaced.
I agree that people are free to share information about whether their partner cheated, but just because you can do something does not mean it’s a great thing to do. That said, I don’t see the Affleck’s career suffered in any way or that anyway thinks he’s a “bad guy”. Jude Law seems to be doing just fine as well. Being outed as a cheater is not the same as being outed as an abuser. Do you feel we should equate the two? Is infidelity the same as abuse?I have even voted for a man running for the highest office in the land who was a known cheater (Clinton), as have many others. I’m not sure a woman with that reputation would do as well, but that theory has never been tested.
Affleck’s career seems to be doing alright, but I’m not really sure how that’s relevant considering the fact that the rumors of Spears’ infidelity didn’t hurt her career either. She had some of her biggest hits after her and Timberlake split. What I’m talking about is the perception that the public holds of them. The same people who hate Affleck for his cheating and side with Jennifer Garner are the ones telling me Justin Timberlake is scum. Do you feel we should equate the two? Is infidelity the same as abuse?That’s a good question, actually. It can certainly be emotionally damaging. According to domestic violence experts, it can be abusive if part of a pattern of abuse, but it’s not necessarily abusive on its own. I’d be surprised if Britney’s cheating was part of a pattern of abuse against Justin, but I suppose I don’t technically know or even know for sure that she cheated. It’s all just rumors and innuendo. Either way, two things don’t have to be exactly the same for us to agree that they’re both wrong and the people those negative actions are afflicted upon should get the benefit of the doubt in how they deal with it. I have even voted for a man running for the highest office in the land who was a known cheaterOur latest election featured two men with credible rape allegations against them. That speaks more to our terrible electoral system than it does to anything else.
“in conclusion, i’m awesome now right? i did a good thing and now back to buying my records. time to layer some coats!”
Pssh, what records? He releases shit so infrequently he might as well not be a pop star at all anymore.
I’m reminded of the hype machine for his album, The 20/20 Experience. There was a tidal wave of support by both the industry and fans for what was in hindsight (ironic) a very lazy effort. In interviews, he claims the creative process just happened organically (translation: he was just winging it). The entire album was carried by aggressive marketing campaign that eclipsed anything that had been done previously for music.
Counterpoint: the first released half of 20/20 is legitimately a great and interesting pop album.
Are we still wondering about the “wardrobe malfunction”? Really? I think a pretty logical consensus was reached ages ago that the entire thing could not have been anything but an orchestrated, old fashioned publicity stunt. The virulent, unexpected backlash sent everyone scurrying in different directions and spewing contradicting accounts but I don’t think anyone thought the “malfunction” was accidental.
the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction is so much bigger than this, with Les Moonves who controlled Viacom (Julie Chens husband) at the time deliberately tanking Janet’s career. listen to episode on it from You’re Wrong About. I think Timberlake is kind of slimy in that he has had ample opportunity to admit he wronged these women, or at least offer some form of empathy, but Spears and Jackson don’t really benefit from his apology after so much damage occurred and I don’t believe him.
Bit late asshole.
There’s a statute of limitations on apologies now?
I mean, if you’re going to release an apology years late, it needs to be good, and in this one, he once again ducks as much blame as possible and instead focuses on structural sexism. He doesn’t differentiate between the different types of harm he caused Jackson and Spears. It comes off as yet another self-serving act (I gotta publicly apologize so the discourse will move on and I can make more money vs. I now realize I was extremely shitty to these two women and am genuinely sorry).
At this point, he would have been better served keeping his mouth shut.
Seems like a nice apology to me. But I don’t matter, and neither does anyone other than Spears and Jackson, which is why this attempt at image repair is meaningless.
after Timberlake erroneously tore away a section of her top on public televisionStrange word choice. One could even say an erroneous word choice.
Yeah. That costume she was wearing was an Alexander McQueen. Lee McQueen did an entire collection of gowns based around The Birds that had flocks of taxidermy birds hanging off of them without any issues. If a piece came off of something that he made, it’s because it was meant to come off.
Also, it would be the world’s biggest coincidence for that “malfunction” to happen right as Timberlake sings, “I’ll have you naked by the end of this song.” It was a stunt that they were both in on and – frankly – the stunt itself wasn’t wrong. She was wearing a pasty underneath, no one saw anything that they wouldn’t see at the VMAs (or even the Grammys at the time). The problem was Janet Jackson got painted as a harlot using the Super Bowl to peddle pornography to children by a mob of hypocritical puritans and Justin Timberlake got to sit back and pretend he was a victim who had no idea what was going to happen when ripped off a piece of her costume and sang, “I’ll have you naked by the end of this song.”
I’ll still assign like 90% of the blame for everything bad that happened to Jackson as a result on that “mob of hypocritical puritans,” though. He should have said “yes, it was planned (if it was), we were all in on it, including me, and if you’re enough of a bunch of knuckle-dragging regressives to have a problem with it, then fuck you, America” instead of ducking all fire, I’ll admit that seems slimy now in context.
I thought I remembered the official story being that the tearaway was planned as Justin sang that line, but he was only supposed to tear off the black part of the dress, leaving a layer of red mesh underneath covering the pasty. The “wardrobe malfunction” was that the red mesh tore away as well, which fully exposed the pasty. In the 0.7 seconds or whatever that the image was broadcast, it did appear that both Justin and Janet were startled, and that something hadn’t gone as planned.Regardless of what was supposed to happen, it’s ridiculous the extent to which Janet’s career suffered as a result, while Justin faced pretty much no consequences to his career or reputation.
The “wardrobe malfunction” was that the red mesh tore away as well
Not challenging you, but I’ve never heard that version of events before. Where was that reported?
Before I made the post, I was just going by my memory, but when I looked it up on Wikipedia, I did find this:Jackson’s representative explained the incident, saying: “Justin was supposed to pull away the rubber bustier to reveal a red lace bra. The garment collapsed and her breast was accidentally revealed.”Right after that sentence, there is a link to an E! article from 2004 that appears to corroborate.Reading through more of the Wikipedia article, I see that Janet was made to apologize by CBS and had a ban on her videos by Viacom, neither of which happened to Justin. The article even mentions her name twice as often as it mentions Justin’s.
The costume performed exactly as intended, hence the nipple cover. Bras don’t “collapse” like that. It’s called damage control.
I always found it to be a suspect explanation; I was just trying to respond to an earlier poster and provide the official rationale for how a wardrobe malfunction could have coincided with “gonna have you naked”.Watching it back, it just seems to me like something did not go as planned. In the video, it looks like there is a split second where she realizes her breast is unsupported/exposed to the air. Justin’s reaction in still photos taken after her breast is revealed seems somewhat muted—if everything went exactly as planned, I might expect more of a fake surprise. I don’t know exactly what was supposed to happen, but either way, in any story you can tell about the moment, both people participated equally, and the fact that they did not suffer the same consequences says a lot.
I don’t know if it was an accident or not, but if I recall correctly, she had a large nipple piercing rather than a pasty underneath.
That’s what everyone imagined they saw. It was a nipple cover, much the same as you see tassels attached to in burlesque shows. It was clearly intentional, as the “red lace bra collapsing” excuse makes zero sense.
It wasn’t actually a pasty -it was a nipple shield. This was I think the first super bowl that had TiVo as a thing, which was the very first DVR to hit mainstream. So people were able to pause and rewind and rewatch and analyze, which made the entire thing worse.Pasty, fancy jewelry, or naked tit aside, the whole thing was ridiculous. Just wanted to comment on that part.
So…he shouldn’t apologize because he didn’t apologize years ago? What would people be saying if he didn’t apologize after all of this recent publicity?It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Maybe that’s how it should be. I don’t even know.
I think this is an easy one, which is that it should absolutely be damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Who said he shouldn’t apologize? What people would be saying if he didn’t apologize is the exact same thing they’ve been saying for years.And it’s not damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It’s criticized if you don’t, and criticized for waiting a fucking long time if you wait a fucking long time. Getting a little criticism is hardly being “damned.”
Oh, come on. You know damn well there are people who wouldn’t accept anything less than a public bloodletting on Timberlake’s part. Sure, in the long run this will amount to a little criticism. But you know there are people who are never going to read or hear about Justin Timberlake again without mentioning what a horrible misogynist he is.
I don’t know any such thing and if you think you do, you’re insane. Who has asked for a “public bloodletting”? Show me one person. In the long run and in the short run, all it amounts to is a little criticism. This criticism has been carrying on for years, and how’s he doing? Just fine. And he will continue doing jut fine even if someone thinks he’s a misogynist.
thank you, everyone defending Timberlake are ultimately defending misogyny.
Right, and honestly I don’t even have a problem with someone thinking, “alright, he apologized, I’m gonna let it go now.” That’s fine, but to come out with both guns blazing about how Timberlake *might* be oh so mistreated (“mistreated” meaning he might continue receiving mild criticism) after apologizing is just…I don’t even know. They’re a bit to eager to wipe the slate clean, indicating that they never had a problem with what he did in the first place and thought the whole thing was always blown out of proportion.
That’s kind of the thing about apologies, though: when you do something wrong, you should offer them. No one is required to accept an apology, though. Am I glad he apologized? Certainly. Janet has been owed an apology for a very, very long time. Do I feel like it’s even my place to “forgive” him? No. Am I going to now decide that I like him? No on that one, too. He caused terrible damage by virtue of his response to that scandal, and I think he’s a crummy human being for a variety of reasons.
Still glad he’s at least apologized though, as I said.
I guess putting the energy into defending Timberlake isn’t really the point. Britney and Janets destruction for years is a product of male privilege (where he actively chose to do nothing all this time) and if he’s the poster child for it, so be it. He’ll be fine.
It’s simpler than that. He’s damned because he had 20 years and, in all that time, he didn’t. “Damned if you do damned if you don’t” is unfair and inaccurate. “Too little too late” is more like it.
GTFOH, Justin.
When he does this publicly (did he call them?), you gotta wonder …
Please stop validating this banal individual. There’s activists and artists much more worthwhile of coverage than this nonsense, even on a pop culture website.
Dear Mr. Timberlake,
I still think that Janet Jackson thing was planned. She just happened to have her nipple covered? Anyway, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as when Mick Jagger pulled off Tina Turner’s skirt at Live Aid. And you can tell by the look on Tina’s face that it wasn’t planned. She just played it off like a pro.
Him ripping it was planned, though the rip was supposed to expose a red bra. The malfunction part was that the garment failed (either intentionally or unintentionally) and her boob got shown instead.
yeah, but she still had a “nipple covering” of some sort. It wasn’t nearly as titillating (lol) as it was made out to be. You can see just as much or more on any beach. It always seemed like fake outrage. The fact that it is still being talked about is crazy
What a horrible person Timberlake is.Also, here are some wonderful comments from commentators on this site about Ray Fisher for talking about Joss Whedon:“maybe Fisher just had a bad experience and in his mind he’s exaggerated this to insane levels mixed in with paranoia”“The executives aren’t paid hourly. It’s not a good use of their time to personally attend to some C-lister (at best)““this just screams of a shitty employee (even if he’s a decent actor) who like many other shitty employees is mad that he’s not getting special treatment he hasn’t earned”“I’m sadly seeing a sad person who’s probably not doing well lashing out.”“We’ve all got lives, how about if you get one and move the fuck on”“I have zero doubt that Whedon isn’t as fun to work for as Zack Snyder…but there’s no “there” here”