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Is Justin Timberlake Going to Perform at 2018 Super Bowl After 'Nipplegate'?

 What’s up guys, Frazier here for Complex News. Thirteen years seems like a reasonable enough stretch of time to let bygones be bygones and squash any beefs or disputes, right? The NFL sure seems to think so. After an apparently very false report from The Source circulated rumors that Jay-Z was being courted to be Super Bowl 52’s HALFTIME PERFORMER, the slightly more reputable US Weekly is now saying his one-time tour partner Justin Timberlake is up for the gig. This is conflicting news. On the one hand, JT is the gawd, creator of 3 truly great albums and one OK one and on top of that, is a true entertainer. He’ll put on one hell of a fucking show for sure. Add to that the rumblings that he’s working on his next project, and the timing couldn’t be better. AND YET...news that he’s returning to the Super Bowl gives even a JT stan such as myself some pause, because, well..we all know what went down in 2004. The, ahem, incident with Janet infamously stuck us with some of the tamest, safest, and in some instances, wackest halftime shows in ensuing years. But the actual fallout from it was the real problem. Nipplegate always carried an uncomfortable air of victim-blaming and what’s worse, by never apologizing to her, or even commenting on it at all besides this pretty weak aside in his 2004 Grammys acceptance speech Justin always seemed to leave Janet hanging as figuratively as he did literally. Again, JT has been notoriously tight-lipped regarding the incident, but if these reports are true then you’d imagine that vow of silence might come to an end as the big game approaches. What he says could absolve him of any ill-will he may have elicited from the way things went down. He could also bring Janet out during his set, which would be an amazing conclusion to what was always a truly bizarre occurrence. Justin Timberlake is surely too shrewd to think that, in these woke times, he can return to the Super Bowl and continue avoiding the past altogether, right? I certainly hope so. Because like I said, there’s no way this guy doesn’t put on a fantastic halftime show (PLAY 0:22-0:28). It would suck if it got marred by ugly headlines and irresponsible behavior. I’m gonna go queue up 20/20 Pt 1 right now, but for updates on Super Bowl 52 subscribe to Complex News on YouTube today. For Complex, I’m Frazier.