Justin Timberlake Complains About “Powerful Week” in First Live performance After Drunk Driving Arrest

Although singer Justin Timberlake has but to publicly handle the allegations of drunk driving levied in opposition to him in Lengthy Island, feedback he made whereas on stage Friday could be our first clue on how he’s feeling about his latest Sag Harbor arrest.

Timberlake’s Neglect Tomorrow tour kicked off in April, a globe-spanning set of reveals meant to help his sixth studio album, March launch Every thing I Thought It Was. The album drop was arguably overshadowed by revelations about his 1999-2002 relationship with singer Britney Spears that she included in her memoir, The Lady in Me, together with claims that he ended their relationship through textual content and responded negatively to the couple’s finally terminated being pregnant.

Although Spears’s guide got here out final October, Timberlake nonetheless hasn’t addressed its claims immediately. Nonetheless, many seen his remarks at a pre-tour live performance in January as an allusion to the controversy. “I’d prefer to take this chance to apologize to completely fucking no person,” he mentioned throughout a January 31 present at New York Metropolis’s Irving Plaza. He then launched into “Cry Me a River,” a tune that Spears cited in her memoir as an effort to depict her as a “harlot who’d damaged the center of America’s golden boy.”

A number of months later, Timberlake’s tour started, stricken by gradual ticket gross sales with costs slashed as little as $16, the New York Submit reported in early June. These ticket costs reportedly dropped even additional within the days after his arrest for allegedly driving whereas intoxicated in Sag Harbor, New York, the Day by day Mail studies, although of us could be smart to not confuse correlation with causation.

Timberlake, who faces one depend of driving whereas intoxicated, one depend of failure to cease at a cease signal, and failure to remain in a correct lane of journey following an arrest at 12:37 a.m on June 18, has additionally saved publicly mum concerning this newest mark on his file. His legal professional, Edward Burke Jr., has performed the speaking for him, telling media that the singer “could have rather a lot to say on the applicable time” however “is presently awaiting full discovery from the DA’s workplace.”

And whereas he waits, it’s again to the highway. On Friday, he kicked off a two-night stand at Chicago’s United Heart, the place he appeared to obliquely handle his arrest.

“We’ve been collectively by means of ups and downs, lefts and rights,” a smiling Justin Timberlake mentioned in footage from the present posted to social media. “It’s been a tricky week, however you’re right here and I’m right here, and nothing can change this second proper now.”

“I do know generally I’m onerous to like, however you retain on loving me and I really like you proper again,” he continued, then launched into “Egocentric,” the primary single from Every thing I Thought It Was.

Timberlake will return to the United Heart stage on Saturday, then head to Madison Sq. Backyard in New York for 2 reveals on June 25 and 26. As of publication time, tickets for each reveals stay available.