Timberlake said he was inspired by Williams’ passionate speech, but many thought the singer was speaking out of turn.
Singer Justin Timberlake faced backlash on Twitter Sunday evening, after he tweeted his thoughts on the speech actor Jesse Williams’ gave when he collected his Humanitarian Award at the 2016 BET Awards. Timberlake tweeted, “@iJesseWilliams tho… #Inspired #BET2016”, after hearing the speech, but his words caused some to call the singer out for appropriating black culture throughout his career.
Justin Timberlake angered some on Twitter after he responded to Jesse Williams’ BET Awards’ speech.
After Timberlake’s tweet, user Ernest Owens, responded: "So does this mean you're going to stop appropriating our music and culture? And apologize to Janet too. #BETAwards.” Owens’ response referenced Timberlake's 2004 Super Bowl performance during which he accidentally flashed Janet Jackson’s breast.
Jackson took most of the backlash for the incident, which was broadcast live in front of millions, while Timberlake’s seemed to come away unharmed. Timberlake responded to Owens by writing: "Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation. Bye.”
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But the singer’s response only worsened the backlash and he then apologised, saying he felt “misunderstood”. "I feel misunderstood. I responded to a specific tweet that wasn't meant to be a general response. I shouldn't have responded anyway,” he wrote.
“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. I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US. – JT.”
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During Williams speech he touched on the issue of cultural appropriation, which Timberlake has been accused of in the past. “'We're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us,” Williams said.
"Burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil—black gold, 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. The thing is though, just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real.”
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