Justin Timberlake Revealed His True Colors to Me Before the Britney Spears Documentary by Ernest Owens

[phareezy]

Oh good! Been waiting for a new Timberlake thread to pop up so I could post this

[Stefani]

How can someone who's so hot be so evil? 

[Borja]

In fact, if man of the woods goes to the woods and we never see him again, I don't mind.

[MX3]

3 hours ago, Bundy said:

 

It appears that a fiery two-year-old Twitter exchange in which Philadelphia Magazine's LGBTQ editor Ernest Owens accused pop star Justin Timberlake of cultural appropriation inspired a track on Timberlake's new album, Man of the Woods.

"My response is that I'm not impressed," said Owens, who learned that the six-minute song "Say Something" was about him after Google alerted him to an interview Timberlake did with music journalist Zane Lowe for Apple's 24-hour music station, Beats 1.

"I think the song is trash," Owens said.

Why all the hateration?

During the 2016 BET Awards, actor and Temple graduate Jesse Williams gave a passionate speech about the Black Lives Matter movement. Justin Timberlake tweeted "#Inspired."

Owens went in.

"So does this mean you're going to stop appropriating our music and culture? And apologize to Janet too. #BETAwards," he tweeted.

"Oh you sweet soul," Timberlake tweeted back that night in a since-deleted tweet. "The more you realize we are the same, the more we can have a conversation. Bye."

 

Owens, of course, kept a screen shot.

The vibe went all the way downhill after that.

Fast-forward to a year ago. Timberlake is working on his Man of the Woods album, which he told Lowe is more about introspection then aspiration. That’s what happens when you become a parent, a now-mature, plaid-shirt-buttoned-up-to-his-neck-wearing Timberlake said. After about 25 minutes, the conversation moves to “Say Something,” a duet he wrote with country singer Chris Stapleton

The lyrics, Timberlake explains, are about wanting to speak up but not getting caught up in the rhythm. Here, it seems, "rhythm" is a metaphor for "drama."

"If the rhythm goes off, then the train goes off the tracks," Timberlake said.

Lowe then delicately brings up the "Jesse Williams thing."

"I felt terrible, you feel terrible," Timberlake said about the Owens exchange, "like, 'Oh man, that is not what I meant. Why did I do that?' "

Owens, who said he has no intention of watching any part of Super Bowl Sunday night — Timberlake is headlining the halftime show — says he's not buying Timberlake's contrition at all.

The bottom line, Owens said, is that Timberlake has become a huge star by copying the R&B sound of artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown. And then, when it becomes inconvenient for Timberlake, Owens said,  he dismisses black people and acts as though he wasn't inspired by black culture at all.  (Critics have said that Man of the Woods is Timberlake's return to his white Southern roots.)

"He doesn't understand his privilege," Owens said. "He's an artist with impact and he will not for the life of him admit the role he played in the gentrification of a genre created by black artists."

 

 

 

thank you for posting. Was that from the article in the op? I tried to read it but couldn’t without a subscription. 
 

say something was actually the only song I liked from man of the woods. I def feel a bit different about it now 

[ObsessedBritFan1]

Nicole, preach!

 

[Midnight]

16 minutes ago, MX3 said:

thank you for posting. Was that from the article in the op? I tried to read it but couldn’t without a subscription. 
 

say something was actually the only song I liked from man of the woods. I def feel a bit different about it now 

Here's the whole article.

 

The self-proclaimed “President of Pop” knew he wronged Janet Jackson and Britney Spears long before the #FreeBritney movement—he just didn’t care.

Last Friday, my phone began to buzz with text messages, DMs, and emails from friends, family, and followers.

“Did you see this? He finally did it.”

Of course, I knew. Google alerts had notified me the moment it happened.

Following the recent backlash for his treatment of pop superstar Britney Spears in the new documentary Framing Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake took to Instagram to not only apologize to her, but also another entertainment heavyweight that he’s disparaged over the years: Janet Jackson.

“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments and concerns and I want to respond,” he wrote in the post, speaking of how his “missteps” contributed to “a system that condones misogyny and racism.”

“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.”

For anyone who hasn’t followed Timberlake’s antics over the years, this would seem like a mature course of action. Timberlake was a young, white, privileged man thriving in a music industry steeped in racism and ***ism. It was in 2002, when he taunted Spears with the music video to “Cry Me A River,” that the tabloids were set ablaze with speculation that she cheated on him. Outside of crudely remarking on the singer’s virginity to the media at the time, Timberlake was also busy throwing Black female artists, such as Ms. Jackson, under the bus.

During the infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, “nipplegate” was born—leading to Jackson facing industry blackballing and excessive criticism, while Timberlake played the role of innocent victim. To make matters worse, a week after the incident, Timberlake would attend the Grammy Awards and accept a statuette for Best Male Pop Solo Performance for “Cry Me A River”—as protesters outside of the ceremony called the Grammys out for banning Jackson from attending. It would take him nearly 20 years to apologize to both of these women for the harm he had done to their careers and personal reputations. Judging by his lengthy Instagram post, you would think he hadn’t been confronted elsewhere for his white privilege and/or problematic behavior beyond the recent calls from the #FreeBritney movement.

But that is not true. I actually confronted Timberlake about his history of cultural appropriation and disrespect of Jackson on Twitter nearly five years ago. He didn’t take it very well.

 

It was back in June 2016 during the BET Awards. Actor Jesse Williams had gone viral that night as his Humanitarian Award acceptance speech defending Black Lives Matter gave voice to a generation of activists who felt misunderstood by mainstream media. I was a freelance journalist at the time who covered racial injustice and tweeted along with many followers who praised Williams’ timely remarks. Then entered Timberlake, inserting himself in what was a Black Twitter moment with a rather tone-deaf attempt to join the conversation. Speaking in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), Timberlake tweets out: “Jesse Williams tho…#Inspired.”

 

I can still remember how annoyed I was when I saw his tweet. Timberlake, who has a long history of appropriating the musical stylings and aesthetics of Black artists, was “inspired” yet again by a Black man who was calling out the exploitation of Black creators. Timberlake and his “blue-eyed soul” was benefiting from a racist system that prioritized white artists who perform R&B over Black artists who invented the genre. Timberlake and many others wouldn’t have reached such career heights had it not been for their mix of talent, white privilege, and the racist industry that favors them more for their “mainstream” appeal.

Taking all of that into consideration, I felt like it was fair to call Timberlake out on how “inspired” he was. Would he speak up about his white privilege? Would he take accountability for the racism Williams was speaking about? Would this be the moment he finally acknowledged how his whiteness protected him from facing the same scrutiny Janet Jackson experienced over a decade ago?

Short answer: Not at all.

 

 

Instead, Timberlake dodged my questions altogether and choose to condescendingly refer to me as a “sweet soul,” which I read as being homophobic given my public profile as a Black queer journalist and/or a Southern bit of shade likened to “bless your little heart.” Either way, his all-lives-matter response followed by a “bye” made it clear to me that he had no time to engage in a fair conversation about racism in the music industry.

 

 

In pure Timberlake fashion, he immediately made himself out to be the victim. Instead of apologizing to Janet or addressing the issue raised in my tweet, he tweeted about how he “responded to a specific tweet that wasn’t meant to be a general response” and how he “shouldn’t have responded anyway.”

 

 

The next morning, the media outlets began covering the exchange, with many framing me as being too hard on Timberlake or questioning whether or not it was fair to accuse him of cultural appropriation. Those online were quick to sympathize with him, although Black Twitter had torn apart his cringeworthy tweets. Charlemagne Tha God of The Breakfast Club made myself and others who criticized Timberlake on Twitter “Donkey of the Day,” while Whoopi Goldberg defended the pop superstar on The View by saying that “we all appropriate.” My tweets were featured across various news outlets—even the Daily Show—and many of them refused to so much as name me or state that they came from a legitimate journalist.

Timberlake had hijacked the narrative yet again, painting himself as the innocent white guy trying to praise a Black person for something good until someone made him respond to something that “wasn’t meant to be a general response.” Just like Jackson and Spears, I—to a lesser degree—began to see how his manipulative “unaware-do-gooder” routine works to his benefit. I got framed as the loud Black guy on Twitter who was trying to start ****, while he became the unsung hero who took on a Twitter mob. Oh, cry me a river.

It wouldn’t be until 2018, when Timberlake reemerged as a “Man of the Woods” for his new folksy album, that he would address the backlash. Playing into this new sober and reflective character, Timberlake told music journalist Zane Lowe of Apple’s Beats 1 that his song “Say Something” with country singer Chris Stapleton was about our infamous Twitter exchange. Timberlake was basically doubling down on the victimhood for his new project. Was this his “Cry Me A River” part 2, only this time about his failure to confront his own racism?

 

 

Timberlake told Lowe in the interview that the lyrics to the song were about wanting to speak up but not getting caught up in the “rhythm” of it.

“If the rhythm goes off, then the train goes off the tracks,” Timberlake said.

Lowe then referred to the metaphor as the “Jesse Williams thing.”

 

“I felt terrible, you feel terrible,” Timberlake tells him about our exchange, “like, ‘Oh man, that is not what I meant. Why did I do that?’”

But that is exactly what he meant. Timberlake was showing myself and the rest of the world exactly who he was to women like Britney Spears and Janet Jackson who had to endure his horrible press conferences and television interviews wherein he disrespected their legacy over and over again. These weren’t “missteps,” but deliberate actions that caused real harm. They were intentional, they were spiteful. Timberlake was a rank opportunist that the industry let prosper at the expense of others’ misfortune.

Britney and Janet had to wait nearly two decades for a half-assed, two-for-one apology. I’m still left wondering: if Britney’s bombshell documentary was never released, would Janet have even been given an apology? Because five years ago, the answer was a resounding no.

 

 

[PickleSpears]

3 hours ago, Jordan Miller said:

I think it's important to stop and pause for a moment. Let me preface this by saying some of his past actions were terrible choices/mistakes. 

However, the documentary pointed out how we and the media treated Britney like ****. Are we going to learn from that? Cause right now it feels to me like we're going to hold JT accountable for his past (which he can never change) in perpetuity. It doesn't feel right. 

I recognize I'm also a privileged white male. 

I'm not saying how he treated Britney and Janet was right. It wasn't. But he's trying to move forward. Maybe he'll be brave enough to do an apology on video. But I fear even that won't suffice for people who are ready to tear him down no matter what. 

Does calling him scum, evil etc help anyone? Including the person saying it? 

Let's learn from the past and try and be compassionate towards others who we feel have done wrong. 

I get your sentiment and it's very sweet/positive but Justin really does seem like a bad person. And he only half-*** apologized bc he was called out. I don't think he really means it or he would have laid off years ago. Instead he continued to use Britney to make himself look good and in return made her look bad. For years. If you really want to apologize for something then you don't do it on an IG post, especially if you're in the spotlight. It was clear that the post was constructed by a PR team - it's so politically correct. It didn't feel like it was from the heart. We'll see moving forward how he behaves - hopefully the bad behavior stops - but I'm all for cancelling Justin Timberlake. He's a piece of sh-t.

[Mantequilla]

Well, he hasn't been hiding anything from anyone. He's been doing ****ty stuff in front of everyone and masking it as "jokes" because people find him likeable. We gave him a free pass. Many, in fact. 

I do feel like this is shifting some attention away from Britney towards JT, which is not what we wanted. We know Britney doesn't hold a grudge, so he should have an opportunity to show the world if there's a difference in today's JT and his old self. 

[MX3]

@Midnight thank you so much for posting the article!!! great read. I’m so glad he put that out there. 

[Iconic 4 U]

Whew chile the messiness

[Jordan Miller]

5 hours ago, Britney'sBish said:

The difference is that Britney never deserved it or treated anyone like shyt.

You don't like how people are going in on everyone, because you know it could come back to bite you for the way you've acted in the past.

He's not actually trying to move forward, his apology was fake and damage control and you know it.

How was his apology fake? What does that mean? 

And what do you mean it could come back to bite me for the way I’ve acted in the past? Was that directed at me or JT?

[Bigno]

I really find him yucky, beyond Britney`s mistreatment. I wish he just disappeared into oblivion. Nonetheless, I still see a lot of people kissing his *** and claiming he will be nominated for an Oscar (ha!) for that stupid movie he is in. Ugh.

I really think his new record will be more daddy pop, but who knows. 

[Onyx_Zone-89]

7 hours ago, LFurbish89 said:

That is WILD. Justin Timberlake is an EVIL human being? Hit**r was evil. Trump is evil. Justin Timberlake is a privileged white male popstar who has been given many passes societally. The hyperbole in this fandom is why people do not take any of us seriously. There is a level of reality missing when you're calling a popstar evil because he's made poor and hurtful decisions. He didn't kill anyone. He didn't r*** anyone. He didn't scam anyone. He has simply benefitted from his place of privilege, which many non-evil people have done and continue to do.

You're definition of evil only includes those who have ********.  There are other kinds of evil in this world. Jabbing at someone else's success to become more successful is a kind of evil. You are coming off hypocritical in your rant about the fan base. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, MX3 said:

thank you for posting. Was that from the article in the op? I tried to read it but couldn’t without a subscription. 
 

say something was actually the only song I liked from man of the woods. I def feel a bit different about it now 

Its from an article the journalist in the op tweeted himself. He hates Justin lol 

https://www.inquirer.com/philly/columnists/elizabeth_wellington/justin-timberlake-man-of-the-woods-ernest-owens-20180202.html?outputType=amp 

I feel the same about Say Something now, that was the only song Ive heard from him in the last 5 years that I liked. 

[Marcanthony]

I didn't even know until yesterday he mocked the superbowl incident in his song

https://twitter.com/STABBIN4JAN/status/1360595086602612738

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Marcanthony said:

I didn't even know until yesterday he mocked the superbowl incident in his song

https://twitter.com/STABBIN4JAN/status/1360595086602612738

He mocked on this song

0:47

The one u posted is about Prince tho, bc he shaded ***yback.

[Britney'sBish]

19 hours ago, Jordan Miller said:

How was his apology fake? What does that mean? 

And what do you mean it could come back to bite me for the way I’ve acted in the past? Was that directed at me or JT?

So after fifteen plus years of consistently mocking Britney (and Janet evidently) now he's sorry after a documentary comes out?

That doesn't seem more than a little suspicious to you?

 

Then to lump them together in the shortest paragraph in said apology, then proceed to keep talking about himself, and how it's really the systems fault?

That seems sincere to you?

 

Jordan that other part was directed at you, I've been coming to this site since pretty much it's inception (I only joined much later). I remember the times you were getting pretty anti-Britney, but I do get that had a lot more to do with her Dad & legal team.

Let's also not forget how you dragged Katy for filth the second Taylor started lashing out at her. Now I will acknowledge that you did indeed apologize for that, but it also happened.

I'm not trying to shyt on you or anything, but it is a little annoying when you pop into threads and push this fake woke/be nice schtick especially when it's artists you care about. I think you can understand, that as someone who's seen your content for over fifteen years, it can feel like it's fake when you were never like that before.

[PZHSB]

He is entitled garbage. And cheated on Jessica Biel with Mila Kunis while filming a movie. They made it no secret. 

[Jordan Miller]

40 minutes ago, Britney'sBish said:

Jordan that other part was directed at you, I've been coming to this site since pretty much it's inception (I only joined much later). I remember the times you were getting pretty anti-Britney, but I do get that had a lot more to do with her Dad & legal team.

I respect your opinion. Please show me literally any example of where I was "pretty anti-Britney." It doesn't exist. I have always showed mad respect for Britney. 

 

41 minutes ago, Britney'sBish said:

So after fifteen plus years of consistently mocking Britney (and Janet evidently) now he's sorry after a documentary comes out?

That doesn't seem more than a little suspicious to you?

By your logic there is nothing he can do. Is that right? If that's wrong, I'd love to hear what he should do instead that will suffice. And please keep in mind even if he did everything you want, it still won't satisfy others. I don't find it healthy to hold things against people in perpetuity. 

 

43 minutes ago, Britney'sBish said:

Let's also not forget how you dragged Katy for filth the second Taylor started lashing out at her. Now I will acknowledge that you did indeed apologize for that, but it also happened.

You're right. I fell trap into the clickbait garbage and I regret it. I apologized and learned from it. If you want to hold that against me forever that's your right, but that sounds low-key exhausting to me. Should we assume you haven't made any mistakes before? Or is it better to assume you've made mistakes privately where people can't throw it back in your face over and over. 

 

44 minutes ago, Britney'sBish said:

I'm not trying to shyt on you or anything, but it is a little annoying when you pop into threads and push this fake woke/be nice schtick especially when it's artists you care about. I think you can understand, that as someone who's seen your content for over fifteen years, it can feel like it's fake when you were never like that before.

It's not fake woke/be nice anything. It's how I truly feel. If that feels fake to you, I suggest turning inward and asking yourself why. 

 

I say this with all due respect: I appreciate you visiting BH for 15 years. Truly. BH is my baby and anyone supporting it for 15 minutes or 15 years is greatly greatly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. With that said, that does not automatically give you a green light to constantly cast judgement on me. 

[Spicechinodiva]

4 minutes ago, Jordan Miller said:

I respect your opinion. Please show me literally any example of where I was "pretty anti-Britney." It doesn't exist. I have always showed mad respect for Britney. 

 

By your logic there is nothing he can do. Is that right? If that's wrong, I'd love to hear what he should do instead that will suffice. And please keep in mind even if he did everything you want, it still won't satisfy others. I don't find it healthy to hold things against people in perpetuity. 

 

You're right. I fell trap into the clickbait garbage and I regret it. I apologized and learned from it. If you want to hold that against me forever that's your right, but that sounds low-key exhausting to me. Should we assume you haven't made any mistakes before? Or is it better to assume you've made mistakes privately where people can't throw it back in your face over and over. 

 

It's not fake woke/be nice anything. It's how I truly feel. If that feels fake to you, I suggest turning inward and asking yourself why. 

 

I say this with all due respect: I appreciate you visiting BH for 15 years. Truly. BH is my baby and anyone supporting it for 15 minutes or 15 years is greatly greatly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. With that said, that does not automatically give you a green light to constantly cast judgement on me. 

I love you @Jordan Miller but let's face it, a few artists are actually majority hated in this forum.  

 

Justin Timberlake is absolutely one of them.