The NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show has become one of the most iconic moments within American pop culture. Outside of the creative commercials it is must see television. With Super Bowl Sunday at a close and the half time performance done, I have to say the committee to pick the performer did a terrible job. This is not a bashing of Timberlake as a performer but a dialogue about his world renowned success coming from the pain of the black body.
Timberlake should not have been allowed to perform again unless Ms. Janet Jackson would be invited back as well (it did not have to be the same year or together). Going back to the original Super Bowl incident of 2004, in the video you can clearly see Timberlake purposely expose Jackson. He sings, “Bet I have you naked by the end of this song,” and rips a part of her top off. Whether they both planned it or it was an accident it was completely unfair and unjust that Jackson’s career took a major turn for the worst while Timberlake continued to do movies and music with a lot of success.
For those who do not know, Jackson’s career plummeted badly. Her music videos were banned from rotation on MTV, her singles were banned from radio play (in a time where radio was still relied on for music to chart well), Damita Jo was under-performed when it was predicted to outsell All For You, and Jackson had to go into hiding for years after because of all the negative criticism she faced.
For his new album Timberlake has been re-branding himself as a “woke” male feminist when in fact he is not. He humiliated Jackson on live TV, he went to the Golden Globes wearing all black for the #MeToo campaign bug, starred in a film directed Woody Allen last year (Wonder Wheel), did a skit on SNL on how he took ex, Britney Spears’ virginity and used the image of Walter Scott being shot by the police in his music video. To make matters worse, after Jesse Williams’ powerful speech on the BET awards show, he tweeted ‘All Lives Matter’ in response to it.
None of these actions are “woke” or being a feminist at all, just like Katy Perry he is looking to sell an album. This speaks to a bigger issue of white artists using black bodies as a way to catapult themselves to a higher level. He even tried to use Prince’s image to save his wack performance, which is ironic considering he dissed Prince in a Timberland song in 2007 titled “Give It to Me”. Also at the Golden Globes in 2007 when Prince won the award for Best Original Song for Happy Feet Timberlake made fun of his height. On top of that Timberlake served alcohol at his Paisley Park event (an estate owned by Prince) when Prince was a known Jehovah Witness and stayed away from drinking.
Shoutout to Riya Jama on Facebook for sharing all these receipts and using her platform to bring to light the actions Timberlake has done towards women and the black community.
