Next year marks the 15th anniversary of the end of *NSYNC. Last night marked the 40th birthday of JC Chasez. And all members of *NSYNC showed up…including Justin Timberlake who, as you know, because he’s a big f-cking deal on his own, cherry-picks his *NSYNC reunion opportunities for when they suit him best. Kind of a surprise, at least to me, since JT’s motivations are primarily governed by one word: ME.
I’m in the minority here though, I know. We are supposed to celebrate Justin Timberlake. Get over it, Lainey! He’s not a bad guy! It’s interesting to me though, especially lately, in the midst of all this Taylor Swift online unpopularity, why Justin Timberlake’s never received the same treatment. Sure, Taylor deserves a lot of side-eyeing for her shadiness but Taylor, to my knowledge, and please point it out if you know otherwise, has never half-assed it for a charity. Justin Timberlake, on the other hand, was called out by Shriners Hospital for Children for his golf tournament because, according to the tournament chairman “it seemed that when the TV cameras weren’t on, he disappeared”.
Justin Timberlake has publicly disrespected Prince. And #NeverForget how he disrespected Janet Jackson. Justin Timberlake has a long history of trifling behaviour. But Justin Timberlake has never been as openly criticised as Taylor Swift. So in a world where the Taylor Swifts will always be OK, the Justin Timberlakes in our lives will always be even more OK.
And that’s why he can continue to be so f-cking annoying. Here’s what JT Instagrammed last night for JC’s birthday:
It’s always that extra something, isn’t it? “And if you don’t know, now you know…”
What is the point of adding a Biggie lyric to the end of wishing your friend a happy birthday? The point is a dash of attempted cleverness. And that is just so Justin Timberlake. He can’t get up to present someone with an award without bending over and doing the “I’m not worthy”. He can’t post a simple message to someone without making it about his personality. I’m sorry… why are we supposed to hate Taylor more than we hate him?
