Justin Timberlake Blasted For Response To Jesse Williams’ BET Awards Speech
Justin Timberlake doesn’t usually say much on Twitter. So far this year, he has mostly stuck to promoting his Trolls soundtrack single “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” But last night (June 27) he weighed in during the BET Awards, only to wish he hadn’t.
A pivotal moment during the show was when Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams accepted the Humanitarian Award. He left the podium to a standing ovation because of how he promoted social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, sized down their critics and stressed how cultural appropriation ain’t nothing new in America.
“We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind, while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil. Ghettoizing and demeaning our creations, then stealing them, gentrifying our genius, and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”
“#Inspired,” Justin said on Twitter, which, fine. But then one user said, “So does this mean you’re going to stop appropriating our music and culture? And apologize to Janet too,” to which Justin replied, “Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation. Bye.”
Once he saw the backlash, though, Justin quickly tried his best to apologize. “I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US,” he said.
Here’s the thing: Throughout his speech, Jesse was talking to a black audience about black American struggles, from slavery to the recent cases of police brutality. How exactly Justin interpreted his words to mean “we are the same” — well, for him being so #inspired, he should have been listening more closely. See his tweets below.
@iJesseWilliams tho…#Inspired #BET2016
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation.
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I feel misunderstood. I responded to a specific tweet that wasn’t meant to be a general response. I shouldn’t have responded anyway…
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I forget this forum sometimes… I was truly inspired by @iJesseWilliams speech because I really do feel that we are all one… A human race
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US.
–JT
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
Keep up with more pop music news by hitting us up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.