Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Late last week,
justin Timberlake posted a
statement to Instagram.
If you weren't aware, there wassomething going on with Justin
Timberlake that there was astatement.
It's okay.
It dropped at the end of lastweek, which means it hit the
Friday afternoon news cycle inAugust in summer.
Was that by design?
Yeah, because it always is.
(00:22):
Hey there, welcome to the PRBreakdown Podcast.
I'm your host, molly McPherson.
So late last week, just as theinternet was fighting over
Sidney Sweeney's jeans andDonald Trump firing the person
in charge of counting jobs,justin Timberlake quietly
dropped a personal bombshell,the 44-year-old opening up on
(00:43):
Instagram about the toll thedisease has taken.
Writing.
I've been battling some healthissues and was diagnosed with
Lyme disease.
Here's a quote from thatstatement that appeared on
Instagram.
If you've experienced thisdisease or know someone who has,
then you're aware living withthis can be relentlessly
debilitating, both mentally andphysically.
It was a long statement.
(01:04):
Timberlake revealed that he'dbeen battling Lyme disease
during his two-year ForgetTomorrow World Tour.
He described the toll it tookon his body and mind and how he
nearly ended the tour early, howthe mystery of his symptoms
consumed him and how grateful hewas to have made it through.
He also very intentionallyreframed a story, because for
(01:26):
much of the past year, the storysurrounding Justin Timberlake
hasn't been about his resilience.
It's been about hisdisengagement, his performances,
his reputation, his energy orlack thereof.
Let me back up.
So Timberlake's Forget Tomorrowworld tour was wrapped in
Turkey just days ago, and whileearly shows in North America
(01:47):
were relatively well-received,fan complaints exploded during
their European leg From Paris toDublin to Romania.
The internet lit up with aconsistent chorus that something
was off.
I first heard about thisstatement on a TikTok live that
I did late last week.
I was on Substack in themorning talking about a response
(02:10):
to the Texas floods, and then Ihad planned a YouTube live and
in between I went on TikTok andthere a follower, ashley, asked
me about the Justin Timberlakestatement.
Now, a number of things hadbeen dogging Justin Timberlake
for the last few years.
There's, of course, questionsof infidelity with his wife,
actress Jessica Biel.
Also his treatment of BritneySpears when her autobiography
(02:32):
came out.
Then, of course, his DUI.
There's just been a lot ofthings that he's been dealing
with.
This was one more thing.
He did not want to add to thatplate, so he needed to deflect
it.
The algorithm knows that I'minterested, so I've seen a
number of posts.
Fans noticed that Timberlakewasn't actually singing full
songs.
In show after show he held themic out to the crowd, skipped
(02:53):
verses or let the backing trackdo the word.
One viral comment called him aglorified hype man, which really
kind of nailed it.
Another quote why did I payover 200 euros for him to sing
half the chorus and just bounce?
Another one said thatperformance could have been an
email.
Timberlake was barely moving, sogone was the tight choreography
(03:16):
that he's known for.
He's always been known as theguy who just puts all this
energy into the dance and theperformance.
But now fans were describinghis body language as disengaged
and low energy.
In multiple clips that I saw hewore his hoodie up.
He was kind of movingsluggishly and rarely interacted
with the audience.
At several stops he arrivedlate.
(03:38):
Some shows ended so abruptlythe fans weren't even sure if he
was coming back out or not.
A few performances, especiallyin Dublin and Paris, ran less
than 60 minutes despite beingbilled as a full-length arena
concert.
One Irish fan posted on X quoteI waited in the rain for that.
And another person wrote twohours late, one hour on stage.
(04:00):
I want my money back.
I don't blame them.
The disappointment turned tofrustration, because when things
happen and people spend moneyand they're expecting something
else, that disappointmentimmediately turns into
frustration.
Then come the jokes, then thememes, then the edits, then the
scathing Reddit threads.
So Timberlake wasn't justhaving one off night, it was
(04:20):
multiple and he was alsobecoming a punchline.
And then on the final night ofthe tour, he posted the
statement.
I have a link in my show notesto the statement.
Let me just read the first fewlines so you can get a sense of
where he was going here.
First of all, it's a carousel,meaning there's a series of
photos in the post.
So let's start at the beginning.
(04:42):
As these two incredible yearscome to an end and I look
forward to the future I wantedto write something from the
heart.
It's not an easy task to try tocontextualize the whirlwind of
touring Dash comma.
I will try, ellipsis, I'm goingto stop there for a moment.
Torin dash comma I will try,ellipsis, I'm going to stop
there for a moment.
When I read that on the livelast week, I immediately knew a
few things.
One he did not write this.
(05:07):
This was clearly written bysomeone on his team, or they
hired a publicist to write it.
There are a lot of dashes, alot of punctuation punches in
here, which leads me down in ahigh-assisted path.
It's too tight.
It also the forensics on itdon't match his typical writing,
which I think makes sense, andso the statement kind of matches
his attitude.
It's just do it, just put it upso he can be done with it and
(05:30):
get it out there.
Continuing on, this has been themost fun, emotional, gratifying
, physically demanding and attimes grueling experience.
I've been doing this for 30plus years.
Okay.
So right now he's starting toframe it Like remember, I've
been doing this a long time,he's tired, it's on the body.
So quote back to the statement,which feels crazy to say that's
in parens, and then it's dash,dash and have given all that I
(05:54):
have to this.
Okay.
So now he's letting you knowhey, everyone, remember all the
work that I've done for you.
This is on you.
Back to the statement.
I could not have done itwithout my family, friends, the
TN Kids and all of your support.
As many of you know, I'm apretty private person.
Yeah, when it comes to a lot ofthe issues that you're facing,
you keep it private.
But as I'm reflecting on thetour and festival tour, dash.
(06:17):
I want to tell you a little bitabout what's been going on with
me.
Among other things, I've beenbattling some health issues and
was diagnosed with Lyme diseasesmall dash, long dash, which I
don't say, so you feel bad forme, dash, dash but to shed some
light on what I've been upagainst behind the scenes.
If you've experienced thisdisease or know someone who has
(06:40):
DASH, then you're aware livingwith this can be relentlessly
debilitating, both mentally andphysically.
Okay, so let me just stop rightthere.
You can read the rest of thepost Again.
The link is in my show notes oryou can find it on his
Instagram.
So this is a statement offraming and it goes on, but here
are some other lines that arecoming from it.
Quote I was faced with apersonal decision stop touring
or keep going and figure it out.
I'm so glad I kept going.
The joy that performing bringsme far outweighs the fleeting
(07:01):
stress my body was feeling.
I was always raised to keepsomething like this to yourself,
but I'm trying to be moretransparent about my struggles
so they aren't misinterpreted.
Okay, so now we have theframing to explain why he was
dragging himself on stage for solong.
It wasn't just one concert, itwas multiple concerts.
I honestly don't know what myfuture is on stage, but I'll
(07:21):
always cherish this run.
Now he wants you to think, oh mygosh, he may never come back.
We're so lucky that we got tosee him in the first place, and
all of them before it's been thestuff of legend in all caps for
me.
Sending love to my beautifulfamily, including stuff of
legend in all caps for meSending love to my beautiful
family, including the wife whohe is suspected of cheating on,
and immense gratitude to myentire team and crew.
I love you all deeply and toeveryone that came out to the
(07:42):
shows.
You have my heart.
Okay, so there we go thestatement.
There's no question, thestatement was highly punctuated
but well-written.
It was emotional, it wasauthentic sounding, even though
I do not think that he wrote it.
But its timing was razor sharp,dropped at the exact moment
when Timberlake needed anarrative reboot the most.
He didn't post it when thenegativity started, not after
(08:04):
Paris, not after Dublin.
He waited until the very end,when no shows were left to
cancel, no refunds could bedemanded and no critics could
say he was using an illness asan excuse for poor performance.
He waited until the story wasfully out of his hands, then
pulled it back.
Even more notably, he posted itduring a heavy news cycle.
We were deep into the SidneySweeney American Eagle campaign
(08:28):
and can I tell you that story isstill going on.
I have never had more pressoutreach on a story in such a
condensed amount of time.
I just turned down a morningnews hit.
At first I said I would do itbecause someone said you know
you should do it, it's morningnetwork news.
And then I went no, I don'thave the energy.
I don't have the energy Plus,it's getting late, but morning I
(08:50):
think all the networks asked meto speak.
I was on CNN last week and thisweek they're looping the same
article.
Cnn Digital, npr last Monday.
I'm going to be on NPR thisWednesday, actually the day this
podcast drops and everyone isasking about this American Eagle
campaign.
Is it because the whole worldcares about it?
No, it's because we are in adrop in the news cycle.
(09:12):
That's why Justin Timberlake isso freaking lucky that his tour
ends just as we're in themiddle of this huge Sidney
Sweeney American Eagle marketingcampaign.
In addition to that, donaldTrump firing his head of Bureau
of Labor Statistics forreleasing an unfavorable jobs
report.
He accused her of manipulatingdata to boost Kamala Harris's
(09:34):
odds in 2028.
So she got dropped.
And what else dropped wasTimberlake's post, very quietly
dropped right as timelines wereflooded.
So it gave his reveal a shieldof sincerity and a cushion of
distraction.
Now let's talk about Lymedisease for a moment.
It's real, it's serious.
It is transmitted through tickbites.
(09:58):
It can lead to several symptomssevere symptoms if not treated
early, like joint pain, muscleaches, nerve damage, chronic
fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, memory issues All the things
that my son dealt with when hewas diagnosed with type 1
diabetes.
Like four years ago, he wasalso diagnosed with Lyme disease
at the same time and since thenwe've seen infectious disease
(10:20):
doctors the chief at BostonChildren's so I know more than
the average cat about Lymedisease.
But here's the tricky part aboutthat disease it's very
difficult to really understandthe impact that it has long term
.
The infectious people at BostonChildren's really told me like
how limited of a disease that itcan be.
(10:41):
But there are a number ofpeople who do suffer from it.
So this is not a medicalpodcast, but I'm just going to
say this Because there are somany questions about it and how
many people truly truly sufferfrom Lyme disease, as opposed to
people whose Lyme disease mayhave triggered maybe another
immune-related disease, anautoimmune-related disease or
some other issues.
They're still working with it,but from what I know about it,
(11:04):
in terms of what the infectiousteam told me and also what I
know about it as a crisismanager, it is convenient.
It is a very convenientdiagnosis.
I'm not saying that JustinTimberlake doesn't have it, but
it is convenient because there'sno timeline for the diagnosis.
There's no quote from a doctor.
There's no mention of treatment.
There's no statement on whetherhe's still an active illness
(11:26):
Nothing.
He's spending all the time onthe specifics about how it
affected him and the time thathe spends explaining about the
disease it's not about thedisease itself.
It's about parts of the diseasethat seem to mirror accusations
that were lobbed against him.
It's so ambiguous and it alsoechoes another high profile case
(11:49):
.
Justin Bieber, in 2020, saidthe same thing he was dodging
rumors about drug use andcanceled appearances.
Bieber said at that time quotewhile a lot of people kept
saying Justin Bieber looks likeshite on meth, et cetera, they
failed to realize.
I've been recently diagnosedwith Lyme disease.
It's been a rough couple ofyears, but I'm getting the right
(12:10):
treatment.
That reveal helped Bieberreframe the public scrutiny, but
the questions still linger withJustin Bieber.
So Timberlake's statementfollows the same playbook,
almost beat for beat, and let'snot pretend that this is
Timberlake's first PR reset.
He faced intense backlash afterframing.
Britney Spears reignitedcriticism of how he handled the
(12:31):
breakup.
He then issued a delayedapology.
He stayed silent after his 2004Super Bowl appearance with
Janet Jackson.
It derailed her career, but heonly much later expressed regret
.
Last year, arrested for a DWIor was it a DUI?
In the Hamptons, he came outwith a statement after he dealt
with the legal issues and thenlaunched an album soon after.
(12:52):
When it flopped, pivoted intotour mode.
But each time things spiral hegoes quiet and then he reemerges
with a new angle.
Now, this time, it's his help.
The verdict so is JustinTimberlake Lyme.
Not necessarily.
Lyme disease is complex.
It doesn't always have cleartimelines.
He very well could suffer fromit.
(13:12):
But what is undeniable is thathis messaging is strategic.
He waited until the heat builtup, he dropped it when no one
could ask for more and hewrapped it up in gratitude,
family nostalgia and just enoughvagueness to protect the
framing.
It was emotionally effective.
It worked.
Reputationally.
It was a Friday, it's not ahuge news story, but it also
(13:34):
asked the public to forgetmonths of disappointing
performances and accept withoutquestion that the fault lies
with an illness, notindifference.
And that was the last post fromJustin Timberlake.
There is a pin post that cameout February 27th.
The caption says all themoments in between that you
didn't get to see, so it's acompilation of videos from his
(13:54):
tour.
So you're, oh, there, he iskissing Jessica Biel, his wife.
It's all the things he wantsyou to see, and some of the
comments on the posts from lastweek also been limited Thanks to
my podcast partner Muckrackgiving me the PR software to
look up a lot of the articlesfrom Justin Timberlake.
I noticed one from E NewsJustin Timberlake shares fiery
(14:17):
message after revealing Lymedisease.
Timberlake shares fiery messageafter revealing Lyme disease.
So what he did is he shared anumber of Instagram stories.
He reposted one from his wife,jessica Biel, saying so happy
that they're home, so she'splaying along with the narrative
, and then he's wearing a shirtthat says I'm not doing shite
today.
Mission accomplished.
That was in the stories, it wasnot in the grid.
(14:38):
So right now, justin Timberlakeis closing in on his social
media and his messaging.
Until all of this goes away,it's late summer.
The timing could not be anybetter for Justin Timberlake.
So will it work?
Yeah, probably will.
The final word on this okay,you can believe the pain, you
(14:59):
can admire the endurance, butyou should still ask why now?
Why this way?
Because when a message landsperfectly and ends a firestorm
overnight, you're not justlooking at a confession, you're
looking at a campaign.
That's all for this week on thepodcast.
If you found this analysishelpful, please subscribe to
keep up with the latestbreakdowns in PR strategy and
(15:21):
public spin.
You can follow me on Substackat Molly McPherson, and I've
also launched my calendar oflive chats and events.
You can subscribe to thecalendar to get a direct link to
all my lives so you can hearabout these stories as they
break.
Remember, every message is astrategy, so we've got to keep
(15:41):
reading between those lines.
All right, everyone.
Bye for now.