Justin Timberlake has spent the last several years as one of the most hated figures in pop culture.
His recent music has underwhelmed both critics and the general public alike, while his image has taken a battering thanks to the continued fallout from decades-old scandals with Janet Jackson and ex-girlfriend Britney Spears.
Various attempts to return the 43-year-old to his once lofty position as pop’s leading man have failed.
His latest album, Everything I Thought It Was, was his first record since his 2002 debut Justified to miss the top spot on the Billboard 200, and also his first not to yield a top ten single.
Despite the album’s commercial failure and public sentiment towards Timberlake reaching an all-time low in the wake of Spears’ dubious memoir The Woman in Me, the Sexyback singer has found a career lifeline through his new tour.
Justin Timberlake has spent the last several years as a villain in the pop music world, but the veteran entertainer may be winning fans back thanks to his latest tour; pictured April 1 in Hollywood
The 43-year-old has been earning rave reviews and selling out arenas across the country with his Forget Tomorrow World Tour
Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour has been making its way across the United States since the beginning of May, earning rave reviews from critics and entertaining sold-out arenas of nostalgic millennials.
In one gushing headline, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the tour ‘revives the reigning prince of pop’.
‘At his triumphant tour stop in Los Angeles, the singer thrilled fans with a setlist of greatest hits and new material that proves the Grammy-winning entertainer is here to stay,’ they declared.
Variety said that Timberlake ‘delivers peak performance at hits-filled L.A. Forum show’, while the Las Vegas Sun called his concert ‘unforgettable’.
At last Saturday’s performance at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Timberlake received a fervent reception from fans that would be hard to fathom if you searched his name on social media – where he’s seemingly blamed for all of the world’s ills.
The crowd was largely comprised of women in their late twenties through to their late forties, most of whom came with their husbands or a group of girlfriends.
Dressed in skinny jeans and ankle boots, they savored the chance to relive their high school years as they let loose to Rock Your Body and Cry Me a River.
Some fans brought their children – clearly born many years after the 2004 Super Bowl – who seemed more than happy to dance to Timberlake’s back catalog with their parents.
The tour has earned rave reviews from industry heavyweights including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter
Timberlake has been adding dates nationally and internationally to meet demand
The Memphis-born hitmaker has already been forced to add more dates to the tour to meet demand.
In February, he added 15 more stops to the tour, and on Monday he added nine more shows for a total of 86 shows and counting.
There are now reports that he’ll extend the tour into 2025 with an Australian leg, while another NSYNC reunion also appears to be on the table according to TMZ.
The reception that the star is receiving on the road is a far cry from his coverage on social media, where he’s routinely been branded ‘the most hated man in music’.
Timberlake has regularly been blamed for ruining the careers of both Janet and Britney, as well as shirking all responsibility for their various blunders – despite issuing apologies to both women in 2021.
Jackson herself has forgiven the father-of-two for his part in their infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.
In her 2002 A&E documentary, the Together Again singer said, ‘this whole thing was blown way out of proportion’.
She continued, ‘Of course it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that’s got to stop. Justin and I are very good friends, and we will always be very good friends. We spoke just a few days ago. He and I have moved on, and it’s time for everyone else to do the same.’
Jackson also admitted that she was the one who personally told Timberlake after their Super Bowl show not to make a public statement so that he could avoid ‘any drama’ while promoting his debut solo album.
Timberlake’s image has taken a battering thanks to the continued fallout from decades-old scandals with Janet Jackson and ex-girlfriend Britney Spears
The Sexyback singer swept the 2004 Grammys just days after his Super Bowl scandal with Jackson
Jackson herself has forgiven the father-of-two for his part in their infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction and urged fans to ‘move on’
During his groveling 2021 apology, Timberlake said that he’d benefited from being a white male in a misogynistic industry.
‘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,’ he said.
‘I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.’
Timberlake continued, ‘The industry is flawed. It sets men, especially white men up for success. As a man in a privileged position I have to be vocal about this. Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.’
His apology came off the heels of years of headlines and think pieces attacking his privilege and race.
Countless scathing reviews for his 2018 album Man of the Woods largely centered around Timberlake’s identity and public persona.
The Pacific Standard wrote that the album’s ‘woodsy iconography is an uncomfortable reminder that certain kinds of authenticity are reserved for white people’, while Vice suggested that it was problematic for the singer to release the album ‘a year into the Trump presidency’.
Timberlake has often found himself targeted by fans of his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears, who blame the hitmaker for Spears’ many problems
Timberlake issued a public apology to both Jackson and Spears in 2021 after being blamed for their blunders and career woes
Perhaps tired of the attacks, Timberlake lashed out at a private performance in February, telling the crowd, ‘I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f***ing nobody.’
His shock remark came just days after Spears apologized to the Sexyback hitmaker for the harsh things she wrote about him in her memoir.
In the best-selling book, Spears claimed that Timberlake had urged her to get an abortion, cheated on her, and used their breakup to launch his solo career.
She later attacked him on Instagram and claimed that she once made him cry after beating him in a game of basketball.
After the tabloid tome reignited a wave of backlash and negative media attention for Timberlake, Spears returned to Instagram to apologize after watching her ex promote his new album on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show.
Posting a clip of him performing on the show, Spears wrote, ‘I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about, I am deeply sorry.’
She continued, ‘I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song, Selfish. It is so good – and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together, I laugh so hard?’
She then retracted the apology shortly after, raging, ‘Someone told me someone was talking s**t about me on the streets !!! Do you want to bring it to the court or will you go home crying to your mom like you did last time ??? I’m not sorry!!!’
In her best-selling memoir, Spears claimed that Timberlake had urged her to get an abortion, cheated on her, and used their breakup to launch his solo career
Some of Britney’s allegations against Timberlake have been called into question, with some saying that the version of events she presented in her book aren’t ‘the truth’
In her memoir, Spears claimed that Timberlake had been unfaithful to her with multiple women for many years, and that she had then retaliated by kissing her choreographer Wade Robson one night while they were out dancing.
She then claimed that she confessed everything about the kiss to Timberlake and that they ‘moved past it’ – only for him to paint her as a cheater in the press as part of a calculated plot to launch his solo career.
While she presented herself as a victim in her memoir, other sources have called Britney’s version of events into question.
According to a source who spoke to Page Six, Timberlake actually discovered a lengthy breakup letter that Spears had sent to Robson, which confirmed that they’d carried on a torrid affair for months.
Spears also failed to mention in her memoir that Robson was one of Timberlake’s close friends and collaborators at the time.
This version was backed up by the singer’s Everytime co-writer Annet Artani, who told TMZ that she knew about the 14-page letter and suspected that Spears did a lot more than just kiss the choreographer one night.
The Toxic hitmaker’s former backup dancer Dan Karaty also claimed that she was having a long affair with Robson – and that Timberlake was in tears when he found out about it.
Discussing the affair on Dutch talk show Humberto, Karaty also said that Spears had misrepresented the situation in her memoir.
‘That’s what worries me about the book … when you write stuff like that, there’s too many people that know those things aren’t true,’ he said.
The Toxic singer, 42, has now been accused of not taking her mental health medication, while simultaneously drinking and taking other drugs – sparking fears of a relapse given her history with substance abuse.
She is said to be allowing her felon boyfriend Paul Soliz to ‘run her household and her life’, with those closest to her claiming she can’t been reasoned with because her ‘mood swings often turn into rages that end in physical violence’.
Paul has reportedly been charged with multiple misdemeanors and at least one felony, according to court documents, such as possession of a firearm in December 2022 when he was employed by Britney.
Also in September 2023, Paul was seen at the San Fernando Superior Court after allegedly violating his probation.
TMZ reports that multiple sources have reached out concerned that Britney’s ‘mental health is in a tailspin’ and they fear the only way forward is to place the mother-of-two under another conservatorship.
Spears, 42, has been accused of not taking her mental health medication, while simultaneously drinking and taking other drugs
Others have claimed that Britney’s ‘mental health is in a tailspin’
The site reports that she is ‘in danger of hurting herself or others’, adding: ‘There are times we’re told it’s impossible to communicate with her because she can’t engage in rational conversation.’
Insiders have also been keen to clear up allegations made in a documentary in which a former security guard for the singer claimed Britney’s room was bugged.
Five sources told TMZ that there was never bedroom surveillance.
They stated that during the conservatorship and amid concerns Britney was being smuggled drugs, a judge signed off on an order authorizing the monitoring of Britney’s communication devices to determine who was supplying her drugs.
Those close to the star claimed that they wanted to clear up the speculation because they believe had that not been claimed, the public would not have championed the #FreeBritney movement and a judge would not have signed off on removing her from the conservatorship.
MailOnline has contacted Britney’s representatives for comment.
Timberlake has been married to wife Jessica Biel since 2012
Britney was initially entered into her conservatorship on February 1, 2008, with Judge Reva Goetz placing her father Jamie and attorney Andrew M. Wallet, as conservators.
It was decided that she needed an intervention after she refused to relinquish custody of her sons to ex Kevin Federline and she was committed to the psych ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
She had been exhibiting worrying behavior in the months leading up to her psychiatric hold, shaving her head in October 17, moments before attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
The conservatorship was terminated in November 2021 following a very public court case fueled by the vocal #FreeBritney brigade.
Earlier this month, in alarming scenes which will draw comparisons with 2007, when she famously shaved her head, Britney sparked ‘mental health crisis’ concerns after being pictured barefoot and topless outside the Chateau Marmont in the early hours.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk