Justin Timberlake has announced that he will be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in 2018 which has lead to an online backlash.
The singer’s performance comes 14 years after his now notorious appearance at the show alongside Janet Jackson. The former N-Sync singer was seen to accidentally rip Janet Jackson’s top and expose her breasts. This lead to Jackson being forced to film an apology for the initial incident.
Justin Timberlake announced the news of his return to the Super Bowl stage on Twitter, in a short video clip alongside US talk show host Jimmy Fallon.
“I DO have the time. Half the time”, he captioned the clip.
I DO have the time. Half the time…#PepsiHalftime #SBLII @Pepsi @NFL @JimmyFallon @FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/4Z4Dz29l3X
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) October 23, 2017
Many were not best pleased about this however and took to Twitter to share their dismay that Timberlake had been given another chance on the show.
One Twitter user, a journalist called Ernest Owens, wrote: “Still ensuring white privilege remains in style in 2017. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson is still left in the cold. My only request is that you don’t perform any of the music inspired by her brother or any Black artist. You love our culture, but disrespect our people.” See the tweet below.
.@jtimberlake still ensuring white privilege remains in style in 2017. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson is still left in the cold.
My only request is that you don’t perform any of the music inspired by her brother or any Black artist.
You love our culture, but disrespect our people. https://t.co/VTVWiGponv
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) October 23, 2017
Another said: “If Janet Jackson can’t ever perform at the Super Bowl again then Justin Timberlake shouldn’t be able to either.”
The Super Bowl Halftime Show is known for being one of the most highly watched global events every year. The last show ended up reaching more than 150 million people across the globe, including more than 80 million views.
Timberlake’s performance follows Coldplay, Beyonce, Madonna and Bruno Mars, who all played the event in recent years.
