Why *NSYNC is the safety net Justin Timberlake needs right now
After watching his solo star dim in recent years, Timberlake seems more than happy to embrace a once-unlikely reunion
Aux Features Justin Timberlake
It may be easy to forget, in the wake of Justin Timberlake’s Janet Jackson scandal, or his retroactive Britney Spears scandal (both of which he’s since apologized for), or even his dancing badly in khakis scandal (which he also, bizarrely, apologized for), but at one point Timberlake was a Mount Rushmore-level global superstar. His first three solo albums—2002’s Justified, 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, and 2013’s The 20/20 Experience (we can skip right over 2018’s misguided Man Of The Woods)—topped the charts. He sold out major arenas. He won Emmys for singing about his dick (in a box) on Saturday Night Live with Andy Samberg. He did his own Hot Ones appearances.
But now, after *NSYNC dropped their first new track in over two decades on September 29 (to the delight of Taylor Swift), Timberlake is back to just being one of five—that’s JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and, yes, JT—and maybe not even the most exciting one at that. Although widely credited with breaking up the band—er, causing them to go on indefinite hiatus—back in 2002, Timberlake has been all smiles and chummy shoulder pats throughout *NSYNC’s recent non-exhaustive press tour (read: going on Hot Ones and hitting up the MTV VMAs) to promote “Better Place” and the rest of their work for the Trolls Band Together soundtrack.
It’s quite the turn of events by Timberlake, considering that a decade or so ago the thought of him returning to boy bandom would have been as surprising as, say, Beyoncé reuniting with Destiny’s Child for the soundtrack to Disney’s live-action version of Lion King 1½. Today, though, the reunion of Timberlake with *NSYNC is viewed by fans as an exuberant win for pop music, rather than an embarrassing backslide or a cheap nostalgia grab. So just how did Justin Timberlake get here? And did he ever foresee his own future?
*NSYNC says “Bye Bye Bye”
It may be hard to imagine in a world scarred by Zayn Malik calling One Direction “generic as fuck” or Camila Cabello constantly beefing with Fifth Harmony, but a popular band can actually break up while still displaying an iota of mutual love and respect—at least on the surface. But the reality is *NSYNC never technically broke up.
*NSYNC’s time out of sync (sorry) started as a long hiatus that everyone else in the band didn’t seem to think would be much of a break. The group was at the height of its powers and still courting a rabid fanbase when Timberlake put everything on pause to record Justified, a move that was mutually beneficial for everyone … at least according to Justin Timberlake. “The break we’re on was a conscious move. We all wanted to do it, and we were ready to do it,” he told New York Post in 2002. “I was 14 when we started, and we’ve been touring for the last seven years. The time was right; we were all in the same zone. This album is what I wanted to do.”
No one would officially acknowledge that the “break” was more of a “break up” until 2007, when Bass wrote in his book: “We’re definitely broken up. It’s not a hiatus. Justin made it clear that he wouldn’t be interested in discussing another album any time soon.” Here’s where Deux Moi or some other gossip instigator would usually step in, except …
No one ever let it get messy
The bandmates Timberlake left in the dust did protest over the years, just … very quietly. “We thought we were getting back together,” Fatone told Huffington Post in 2018, for example. “It was, ‘OK, after [Justin] does his thing, blah, blah, blah, we’ll get back together and move forward and do what we got to do. And then it was like, ‘Nope. The record company wanted to push Justin …’ He got bigger and bigger, which is honestly great for him.. but it was more or less weird that there wasn’t an explanation to say we’re not going to do it, period.”
Timberlake rarely veered from his line about the equal importance of everyone else’s projects (See: Kirkpatrick starting a terrible clothing line called FuMan Skeeto, or Lance Bass almost going to space) if he allowed interviewers to linger on *NSYNC at all. His other oft-used tactic was to simply shrug off the breakup as “not a big deal for us,” which is, of course, an easy thing to say when you’re the one telling the story.
Still, after a thorough scouring of the archive, this writer could find only two interviews in which the star said anything that could even be remotely construed as shade. In 2011, after declaring to Playboy that he’d only sing an *NSYNC song again in a “really special scenario” (that chance would come only two years later when the band reunited for the first time in honor of Timberlake’s VMA Video Vanguard win), the singer went on to admit that he “still talk[s] to the guys occasionally. I probably talk to Joey and Chris more than J.C. and Lance. I’d say I text back and forth with Joey once a month.” But never fear: the guys are all in a “very ridiculous group chat” now, per yet another surprise reunion on The Ellen Show in 2018. (They’ve done that kind of a lot, huh?)
Then, in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Timberlake dropped this bombshell: “[*NSYNC] started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche … Also, I was growing out of it. I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group.” The media of the time responded with predictably sensationalized fervor, but the whole thing seems to have blown over pretty quickly amongst the rest of the band, who never publicly addressed the statement outside of, maybe, some jabs in the group chat. As far as the public is concerned, that’s where the story really begins and ends.
The boyband is back
Whether the guys genuinely feel this chummy towards each other or Timberlake’s PR person is just some sort of prescient genius remains unclear. As his solo career soared then cratered, Timberlake’s boyband past always remained on the periphery, a constant source of “remember when…?” questions. The prodigal son’s treatment of this past paints a picture either of a man endlessly atoning for leaving his friends in the lurch, or one who’s never quite trusted his own fame and wanted to leave some nets in place in case of a fall.
What is clear is that as his solo career and bad boy image crumbled around him, Timberlake is being offered something few in his position have received in the past: forgiveness and—at least on the surface—genuine re-acceptance. We’ll see in the coming months if the reunion sticks past Trolls Band Together and if so, whether or not this cycle repeats itself all over again. Maybe it will finally be JC’s turn to shine.
37 Comments
Is it really “easy to forget,” as the article asserts, that Justin Timberlake is a really famous popstar? And has his career really “cratered,” or “crumbled?” My sense is that it’s not especially surprisingly that a 42-year-old who has been famous for more than two decades is no longer the hottest name in music, but that Timberlake is in an enviable position compared to . . . pretty much every one of his peers.
Yeah I’m going to +1 this one. That part of the article is wishcasting. Timberlake has been involved in multiple highly dickish incidents in the past decades, and is clearly totally self-absorbed, but he’s still a huge star who would chart #1 tomorrow if he put a new solo album out. This reunion is some combination of a nostalgia cash grab and Timberlake wanting to do something that will garner positive press, given the aforementioned dickish incidents.
Yeah, this article is weird. JT is definitely not as popular as he once was, but where he currently is is a pretty far cry from being the has-been that the article suggests. Honestly, this is like one of the fictional articles they would read out loud on The Idol. Ugh.
I’m guessing most young people have little or no interest in him. Maybe he’s trying for pop star relevance again, but I can’t see sliding around a stage with other 40-somethings getting him there.
Eh, considering how the article author is most likely in her early-to-mid twenties, it probably is easy to forget someone who hasn’t been stratospherically famous since her early teens. We’re old, is what I’m saying.
We don’t do self-reflection here. The kids are always wrong.
The man was on Star Search. Yes, *that* Star Search.
The fact that he’s even remotely relevant still is impressive.
I’m not wholly kidding here either; when’s the last time anyone was really talking about Justin Timberlake? Trolls? I dunno if I’d go so far as to say that his career has ‘cratered’, but there’s definitely been a bit of a slow down and a fade out.
I’m 37 and male, which was not his demographic at any given time. I grew up as any normal teen (thinking that boy bands suck, etc.) and he had three moments where he impressed me. #2 was when he was in the movie Alpha Dog, which, although a movie I don’t love, one I found him the best part in, and liked him in The Social Network as well. #3 was when he hosted/music-ed SNL and his performance was actually fantastic. But #1 was when he performed at Sars-Stock in Toronto. They held an ENORMOUS concert with The Rolling Stones and AC/DC, and he performed as well. He not only knew he would be pelted with water bottles and booed when he hit the stage, but he empathized with the crowd, saying afterward something to the tune of, “If I was here to see them, I wouldn’t want to see me either.” They made a DVD of the concert, and he’s polite to everyone.Here’s the thing: Sars-Stock was not a rock concert; it was a concert for the people of Toronto, many of whom are fans of his. He knew ahead of time what would happen, and he still walked out to that reception. That is cool and respectable, and I’ve liked him ever since.
Yeah he might not be huge in music anymore, but he hasn’t really gone anywhere publicly that is. As a matter of fact I just watched him in Reptile on Netflix yesterday.
I don’t think it’s easy to forget, but I do agree that his star has been fading. He was seen as a “good guy” for a long time and was very aw shucks about a lot of stuff, but the scandals they mentioned, plus a couple of others, people have been giving him more side-eye. I can’t speak for everyone but specifically in the Black community. Not that he was ever considered a big star in the Black community but he had ancillary benefits because a lot of his music had an R&B vibe, and anyway after that Janet Jackson stuff we weren’t really feeling him anymore, and I think white people started seeing it more with Britney Spears. People just generally started seeing him as someone who had screwed folks over throughout the years rather than just a good guy tumbling into a good career.So, long story short, I don’t think his star power is what it once was as people just aren’t feeling him personality-wise anymore.
I don’t think these supposed scandals are even registering with the broader public. Are people other than the Overly Online really disgusted that Timberlake was not super mature as a 21-year-old?And your timeline for when the black community was supposedly over Timberlake doesn’t make sense. According to you, the black community rejected Timberlake en masse in February 2004, after which he . . . was incredibly famous and successful for another decade, making a bunch of hits with Timbaland and T.I.
“I don’t think these supposed scandals are even registering with the broader public.”That’s possible. I haven’t taken a poll with “the broader public.” Have you?“Are people other than the Overly Online really disgusted that Timberlake was not super mature as a 21-year-old?”I don’t consider myself to be “Overly Online,” but I also don’t think the problem is that he was “not super mature as a 21-year-old.” I think that’s ignoring what actually happened and focusing on the aw-shucks-blond-white-boy of it all.“According to you, the black community rejected Timberlake en masse in February 2004, after which he . . . was incredibly famous and successful for another decade, making a bunch of hits with Timbaland and T.I.”First of all, I didn’t say en masse. Second of all, you’ll be interested to find out that Black people don’t make up the majority of people in this country or even the world, so even if Black people did reject him en masse, he could still have hit songs. Third of all, if Black people did like those songs, it was because of Timbaland and TI, not Justin Timberlake. Fourth, the Janet Jackson stuff was the beginning of the downslide. It did take some years before people (Black people) started noticing more and more of his cultural appropriation, and he had some more suspect stuff to say later on regarding the thing with Jesse Williams. The point is Black people have been not feeling him for a while, so I don’t know what “the broader public” has been doing but based on what I’ve seen in my community, his popularity waned because people weren’t buying his personality anymore.
I remember when Mila Kunis got into an argument with a Russian journalist (in Russian) about Justin Timberlake’s acting career. I suspect the reporter was asking why he did not instead consider staying in his lane as the implication was that he wasn’t good enough at this whole acting thing.As per one of the Youtube comments:For all those peeps in the comments who were asking for a translation/wanted to know what’s happening.Reporter: Justin, I have a question for you about the movie and about sex.Mila: About what?Reporter: About the movie and about sex.Mila: Yeah, I heard you the first time, just wanted to hear you saying it twice (she means the word “sex”) LOLReporter: What made you want to make movies? Why on earth would you want to act?Mila: Why?Reporter: There are many people in show business that go into acting and it doesn’t do them any good. Is it really necessary for him to act?Mila: Why is it necessary for him to act? Well, what do you want him to do then? everyone laughs (I love how she is like “hold on, I got this” to Justin xd) I don’t get it. If he wants to, then why not? What sort of question is this? How about you then? (directed at the reporter) What are you doing here? Why are you here?Reporter: I am just doing my job.Mila: Well, it’s the same for him isn’t it? He is just doing his job.
“This is my bodyguard.”That interview never gets old.
May I call him Al?
The thing I remember about that incident is the number of supposed Russians in the comments there were trashing her accent as that of Ukrainian hick trash Of course it all makes sense now why it was so important to them.
Um, haven’t you heard? Mila Kunis is cancelled. She’s a rape explainapopololologist.
I’m still OuttaSync with *NSync.
Those boys are takin’ it back to the streets. . .I mean ‘da streetz!
I’m still just a new kid on this block…
Menudo!
This reminds me of Michael Cera. He was hot after Arrested Development ended, and when people would ask if he was interested in doing more he would mention that he moved on and was doing other things. After his film career stalled he was back in for more AD.
Michael Cera has stated time and again how he doesn’t like being famous, and that he deliberately stepped out of the spotlight because of it. So any ‘stall’ in his career was self-inflicted.
So, the box office totals of Youth in Revolt, Scott Pilgrim and other movies he starred in had nothing to do with it? If you say so
Nope, those films had nothing to do with it. If they did, he would have been done after Scott Pilgrim bombed. Instead, in-between art house stuff and movies with friends he’s done quite well.
2007 – Juno – $232 million
2009 – Youth in Revolt ($19.7m on $18m budget)
2010 – Scott Pilgrim (box office bomb)
2013 – Superbad ($169 million)
2013 – This Is The End ($125 million)
2017 – The Lego Batman Movie ($312 million)
2023 – Barbie ($FuckTon)
You’re free to your opinion, but I disagree with it. If Michael Cera says he takes breaks because he doesn’t like fame, his resume leads me to believe he’s telling the truth. Not everything is a lie or a conspiracy.
I’ve always hated the “Where Are They Now?” sort of things. Vanilla Ice is a contractor. It’s not always a step back. People need normalcy, and I don’t envy being under a (much bigger than it used to be) spotlight for one’s entire life.
Dan Cortese is still acting today.
I imagine that normalcy can be especially nice if you are able to bank a large sum from the fame. Then work/life can be more of a hobby after what is often the wild ride of fame.
Exactly. Many actors follow the “one for them, one for you” policy of choosing which projects to take. And come on, look at the guy, he doesn’t seem like someone who wants to be bothered on the street. He once talked about walking around with Jack Black and how good Jack was with fans and the art of being a celebrity. He, on the other hand, said he feels awkward and uneasy with all that attention. Everyone’s different.
Except Cera had nothing to do with pulling the plug on AD. Cera worked on AD until it was cancelled, and then was happy to work on it again when it got continued by a new studio.
I don’t see where the OP said anything about Cera “pulling the plug on AD,” do you? I do recall when he and Bateman were doing junkets for Juno, reporters kept asking about the then-recently cancelled show finding new life on another network, and Bateman responding that “As soon as White Hot over here [Cera] is willing to join the rest of us,” or something to that effect. (I don’t fault him, or anyone, for this, FWIW.)
Michael Cera can’t grow a good beard.
Pretty sure this is the plot of Popstar: Never Stop, Never Stopping. Maybe Michael Bolton will jam with *NSYNC on “Incredible Thoughts” and Usher will do the Donkey Roll with them.
A person worth around $250 million doesn’t need a safety net.
Wow, this is like if Robbie Robertson agreed to get back with The Band. Except The Band played instruments, wrote songs and had talent.
You could definitely take the angle that this reunion makes it look like he’s able to make amends and that if these guys are willing to work with him again, maybe that makes others more willing to forgive an move on as well. But the rest of the guys are benefiting from this as well.During the Hot Ones interview, one of them said they all knew their roles in the band, emphasizing how they fit together harmonically. That means they knew who the leads would go to and who supported the leads. Thinking about it for a few seconds, there were two guys in the band that took lead parts (I think?), and one of them was an obvious standout. That’s part of the deal. But speaking of deals, what about their “team” that was around them? Managers, accountants, agents, etc.? I can’t help but wonder what kind of NDAs might be in place that have protected the group’s relatively cohesive image for a comeback later. That’s not to say they didn’t legitimately work out any personal issues, or aren’t in the process of doing so now, though. It can be many things at once, or start with one intention and have other consequences.It’s fun to speculate, sure. And if the Internet is anything, it’s celebrating something for five minutes, then ruminating on its faults for five years, then looking back on it to say it was better than most people want to give it credit for or that we forget how magical it was in its time, but pointing out how it went wrong. Why not give just being happy they’re working together again and hoping for the best a try?