Justin Timberlake has some experience with making public apologies. In recent years, Timberlake has apologized publicly to his family after some questionable photographs of him with a co-star surfaced, and he also apologized to fellow pop singers Janet Jackson and Britney Spears for the way he treated them earlier in his career. Now, the star is apologizing again. This time, he’s saying sorry to the people of Washington, D.C. for something that happened during a live performance.
Earlier this week, a video of Timberlake dancing at a D.C. music festival went viral—and not because people were impressed. Read on to find out more.
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On Saturday, June 18, Timberlake performed at the Something in the Water music festival in D.C. alongside Pharrell Williams. During the song “SexyBack,” Timberlake yelled out, “D.C., beat your feet!” and did—or tried to do—the “beat ya feet” dance that is popular in the area. The style originated in D.C. and pairs with go-go music, a genre that is also big there.
The video of Timberlake dancing went viral online, with many people making fun of his attempt. “Justin Timberlake said ‘DC beat your feet’ and proceeded to do the hokey pokey,” wrote one Twitter user. “Why does Justin Timberlake now move like me dancing to Justin Timberlake at the club?” said another. After the apology, someone commented, “Justin Timberlake got bullied into apologizing for his river dancing.”
Many commenters also brought up Timberlake’s outfit, which consisted of sneakers, khaki pants, and a short-sleeve button-up shirt. “Justin Timberlake still thinking he has any swag left while wearing those Old Navy khakis on stage,” someone tweeted. Another Twitter user posted, “Did Justin Timberlake just get off work?? Cause the outfit is very much IT specialist.” Someone else wrote, “Justin Timberlake serving Tommy Bahama outlet store manager.”
In a video posted to his Instagram Story, Timberlake looked into the camera and said, “D.C., I want to apologize to you for two reasons.” He then panned down to his feet and said, “Here and here!” Referring to his feet, he continued, “I had a long talk with both of them, individually, and said, ‘Don’t you ever do that to me again.'”
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Timberlake also acknowledged the comments about his ensemble during his apology video.
“Maybe it was the khakis. It was a real khaki vibe,” he concluded. “I’m going to make this up to you. I’m going to focus on these two guys right here and get ’em right. Love ya.”
The “Suit & Tie” singer went on to post three videos of people recreating his dance, including one of a little girl captioned, “She did it better than JT.” Timberlake added, “I don’t disagree” with a crying-laughing emoji.
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