Justin Timberlake Talks Critics & Haters In ‘GQ’ Cover Story

Yikes! Justin Timberlake has an axe to grind with those of us who were underwhelmed by his latest album, The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 and his recent film Runner, Runner. In his GQ cover story, he doesn’t mince words when it comes to describing his reaction to the reception: “I feel — literally — like a bunch of people just took a shit on my face,” he says. Oh! What a visually arresting simile.

Specifically, he took umbrage with the response from industry-centric publications like Billboard and Variety, asking rhetorically, “Where did all this vitriol come from? It’s mean. And I’m not cut out for it.”

He continued: “You sound like a dickhead… It just shocked me because, like, you’re trade magazines. None of your opinions count. And by the way, none of you can do it.” And moreover: “I grew up with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, so sometimes I find it funny that I’ve been able to acquire the patience it takes to be kind to people in our business. Because sometimes I just want to fucking kill everybody.”

Well! That settles that, sort of.

It’s not clear entirely why he’s this upset — ultimately, Timberlake is still richer and better-liked than you or I, and his first album of the year was critically lauded and a commercial success — and unfortunately, you don’t get to dictate what sort of response you’ll receive from critics when you create something and send it off into the world. It’s not a particularly dignified look for him to be complaining because people didn’t like what he made.

Ah, well. Just goes to show that even superstars have bad days.

Read the full interview over at GQ.

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