Since the release of the Britney Spears documentary last week, the singer’s ex Justin Timberlake has rightly found himself under renewed public scrutiny for some pretty gross comments he made about their relationship back in the day.
Spears dated Justin Timberlake between 1999 and 2002. She famously said she was waiting for marriage to lose her virginity, although he spoke about details of their sex life in a radio interview, and later implied that they broke up due to infidelity on her part.
Following a week or so of intense backlash, Timberlake has finally said sorry to Spears, as well as to Janet Jackson, for his part in the Super Bowl fiasco. As apologies go, though, this one definitely falls into the ‘too little, too late’ category. He began:
“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond. 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 others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”
In other words, I’m not apologising because I want to or because my conscience is nagging me in some way, I’m apologising because the internet recently noticed my shabby behaviour and decided to call me out on it.
“I specifically want to apologise to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed. I also feel compelled to respond, in part, because everyone involved deserves better and most importantly, because this is a larger conversation that I wholeheartedly want to be part of and grow from.”
In other words, I’m so sorry to these two women that I’ve gone ahead and lumped them into the one sentence, without going into any detail about what I did or why it was bad.
During their 2004 Super Bowl performance, Timberlake ripped a portion of Jackson’s costume away, revealing her right breast to millions of TV viewers.
Although both apologised, Jackson was fined and had her music effectively snubbed by radio stations and MTV in the US.
With no specific mention of that, Timberlake continued:
“The industry is flawed. It sets men, especially white men, up for success. It’s designed this way. As a man in a privileged position I have to be vocal about this. Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognise 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.
“I have not been perfect in navigating all of this throughout my career. I know this apology is a first step and doesn’t absolve the past. I want to take accountability for my own missteps in all of this as well as be part of a world that uplifts and supports. I care deeply about the wellbeing of the people I love and have loved. I can do better and I will do better.”
You can see his post below, but the TLDR version is essentially:
