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| 8/15/04 |
It's un-bare-able It happened so fast that most folks didn't quite know what they had seen until next-day photos added a new term to mainstream America's vocabulary. Can you say "nipple shield?" Call it what you like: Nipple Gate, the Nipple Seen Around the World, Super Boob or simply Costume Reveal. The uproar over Janet Jackson's Super Bowl incident with Justin Timberlake on Feb. 1 has morphed in the past six months from a quickie televised shocker to a runaway chill within the world of entertainment. When Timberlake exposed Jackson's right breast during their segment of the football game's MTV-produced halftime show -- a sleight of hand timed to the lyric, "Bet I have you naked by the end of this song" -- both artists expressed dismay, insisting that a red-lace bra didn't stay in place under Janet's black bustier. Timberlake issued a statement apologizing for the "wardrobe malfunction" (another term for the pop lexicon history books). Jackson issued her own apology, which stated in part, "It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended -- including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL." Commented the "politically incorrect" comedian Bill Maher, "I'm really embarrassed that I live in a country that freaked out about seeing a half a second of a blurry breast." Looking back, Justin says he was disheartened by the whole episode. "It was bad on all accounts. There were articles I read that accused me of being racist . . . And I was like, come on. There was half of me that didn't care, but then there was the other half, my family. I don't want them to ever think I would intentionally do something like that." Timberlake admits he didn't want to be involved in the production at first and had originally turned it down. "I have a great relationship with MTV and also a great relationship with Janet," he says. "It was just one of those things." Yet "one of those things" has since taken on a life of its own, to the point that Janet and Justin toy models surfaced on eBay and the Amateur Gourmet offered a recipe for "Janet Jackson Breast Cupcakes." Then there's the more serious fallout. At the time, Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell (Colin Powell's son) called the Super Bowl display "a classless, crass and deplorable stunt" and vowed to investigate. The government-run communications regulation agency has since ruled the performance obscene and proposed in July total fines of $550,000 against CBS-owned stations. In March, the House approved a Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act that would give the FCC the power to levy fines up to $500,000 per violation, while the Senate passed 99-to-1 an amendment in June that sets maximum fines at $275,000. "Shock jock" radio has also felt the heat, notably Howard Stern's popular syndicated show, which got yanked off the air on six Clear Channel stations. In June, Clear Channel paid the FCC $1.75 million to settle all indecency charges. As part of the trickle-down effect, networks have begun self-monitoring content more diligently and have included time-delays on live events such as the Academy Awards and the Grammys. When Timberlake appeared at the Grammys days after the to-do, he issued a further apology, reportedly at the request of CBS, though the singer says he made it "out of the goodness of my heart for my family. I had all these relatives calling." Jackson, who declined such an apology, did not appear at the music awards show. So while Timberlake has seemingly moved beyond the controversy, Jackson -- to whom he was once romantically linked --- has not, something he says he feels bad about. Jackson's career, in fact, has taken a tough tumble. Her new album, Damita Jo, stalled only weeks after coming out. She pulled out of portraying Lena Horne in a television movie after complaints from Horne herself. Disney even took down a Janet-inspired Mickey Mouse statue. "Why was it that Janet got all the heat from it and he didn't?" says WDIA radio personality Bev Johnson. "I feel bad for Janet, and it kind of makes it a black-white thing." Johnson also feels that Jackson became a convenient target by an FCC that was already preparing to clamp down on indecency. "Somebody had to be the scapegoat," she says. "And with Janet, it became, 'See, this is what we're talking about.'" Then again, Timberlake might side with Howard Stern that the whole brouhaha has less to do with questionable morals than it does with election-year politics. Quips the usually soft-spoken singer: "We can't find any WMDs. Everybody, look at this boob!"
From CDs to big screen And the Oscar goes to . . . Justin Timberlake? Don't chuckle. The former teen pop icon has mindfully moved into an adult-sized career that demands to be taken seriously, both on stage and, now, on screen. Advertisement Shot this spring in Vancouver, British Columbia, the $25 million motion picture, made through Los Angeles company Millennium Films, stars Timberlake as a rookie investigative reporter who uncovers big-city corruption at the highest levels. Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey co-star, as do LL Cool J and Dylan McDermott. The movie marks the big-screen coming out of writer-director David Burke, whose television credits include the NBC series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." "It's a thinker movie," says Timberlake, who was paid $500,000 to star, according to E! "I play a young journalist, brilliant, naive, sort of obnoxious. He writes for a community magazine, i.e., a Millington Star, not even a Commercial Appeal. He writes for the Jewish community. He is Jewish but he's not religious. He's a city boy. Morgan Freeman plays my boss and Kevin Spacey plays the district attorney's ace investigator who bucks the system and teams up with us. It's an unlikely trio." To get into the part, the 23-year-old performer tagged along in L.A. with Associated Press reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Porterfield, who gave him a lesson in retrieving public records (they pulled a use-of-likeness lawsuit filed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington). An AP story quoted Porterfield as saying, "I thought he was sharp. He seemed attentive and interested in learning this stuff. He has a real interest in developing his part. He took quite a few notes." As far as the actual acting went, Timberlake says he relied largely on instinct to guide him (no, girlfriend Cameron Diaz didn't sub as acting coach). "To me, the best moments in movies are with no dialogue," he says. "You just get action, and I'm not saying action by cars blowing up. I'm saying (the shot of) someone's face, someone's reaction. You get more from the reaction than from what's actually happening." Morgan Freeman says he was impressed by Timberlake the actor and yet not totally surprised. After all, the pop entertainer has worked in front of a camera since his preteen days on "The All New Mickey Mouse Club"; he even appeared in a 2000 Disney Channel film, "Model Behavior," and has had a few cameos in such under-the-radar efforts as "Longshot" and "On the Line." "Particularly in the movies, it takes very subtle effort," says Freeman. "He's good. I think he's got natural ability there." "Edison" producer Randall Emmett was also reported as saying of Timberlake: "He's so magnetic . . . [People are] going to see him as a great actor one day." "Edison" won't be the singer's lone foray into cinema. He is fielding plenty of offers, "lots of very exciting projects," says the star's New York publicist, Ken Sunshine. Few musicians make a satisfying leap to film. The video bins are littered with the celluloid sins of pop stars from Madonna to Mariah Carey. Prince and Eminem succeeded in a limited way by basically playing versions of their musical selves. Elvis Presley may be the ultimate casualty, a towering rock legend whose movies were mostly "Clambake" fluff. For Timberlake, however, appearing in a cool little indie drama -- not to mention a nonmusical role played against award-winning heavies -- is likely the smartest move he could make. Freeman agrees, noting that "Edison" should bring built-in credibility for the silver-screen newcomer. Timberlake is proud of his choice, made after nearly a year of fielding scripts. "It's got a lot of meat on it, that part. I didn't want to do a light role. I didn't want people to think I was doing a film just to do a big-budget blockbuster popcorn movie." So instead of Britney Spears bombing high style in the vanity flick "Crossroads," Timberlake has opted for the lower-key route. "I wouldn't have it any other way," he says, offering a surefire gaze that you'll no doubt be seeing more of.
Timberlake Strikes a Pose A tumbling JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, Jameson whiskey in hand, is pictured in perfect attire for GQ magazine, on stands August 24th. The former boy-band babe is certainly grown up -- with a big, movie-star girlfriend in CAMERON DIAZ. He even seems to hint that his *NSYNC days may be over. When asked about doing the group's next album, Justin responds, "You're never contractually obligated to do anything. I think A TRIBE CALLED QUEST has been contractually obligated to do another album for, like, 10 years."
Heir apparent He's a white kid from Memphis whose fascination with black music has made him one of the world's most recognizable stars in music. He's sold millions of records despite the predictions that he'd be a passing fad. He's a paparazzi-pursued sex symbol romantically linked to some of the most beautiful women in show biz. He's a triple threat as singer, dancer and actor. Oh yeah, and he loves his mama. He's Justin Timberlake, the biggest pop dynamo to come from the Bluff City since Elvis Presley sang "That's All Right" 50 years ago. "I see it all the time about the similarities with Elvis -- 'You're the next Elvis,'" says Timberlake, a Memphis musical ambassador for the city's 50th anniversary of rock and roll celebration. "I try not to put that pressure on myself. I always say I just want to be the first Justin, I just want to be me." The 23-year-old entertainer recently spoke in an exclusive interview with The Commercial Appeal while relaxing in the secluded garden of West Hollywood's famed Chateau Marmont, not too far from his $8 million mansion. You know you've arrived when the E! channel features you in its bling-bling measure-of-success series "It's Good to Be..." And Timberlake -- who went from making around $40,000 in 1998 to $42 million in 2000, according to one E! factoid -- has arrived. Sure he dodged water bottles flung at him during last year's SARS concert in Toronto, where he performed before a tough Rolling Stones crowd (not that it mattered much -- the Stones invited him up for "Miss You"). But public and critical acceptance of the 'NSync member has only escalated since making the leap from boy-band commodity to adult artist with the release of 2002's Justified, a record that has sold 3.5 million copies in America according to album sales monitor Nielsen SoundScan. Timberlake -- ranked No. 6 last year among People magazine's "world's sexiest men" -- was a top winner at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, beating out 50 Cent, Eminem, No Doubt, Avril Lavigne and one of his heroes, Johnny Cash. In February, the former teen idol won Best International Male Artist and Best International Album at the Brit Music Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys. That same month, he picked up his first two Grammys including Best Pop Vocal Album. "The Grammy is such a prestigious award," says Timberlake. "It's like, all of a sudden your stock goes up." His stock needed a lift at the time. Just days prior, he and Janet Jackson had stunned prime-time television viewers with a Super Bowl halftime show that made everyone forget about football. Admits Timberlake now: "I'm glad that (the Grammy wins) came when they came because I was kind of feeling down, obviously, about the Super Bowl." Timberlake has little to feel down about these days. He's finally achieved the musical respect he's aspired to for years; he will soon star in his first dramatic film role; he's a partner in several ventures, notably the L.A. restaurant Chi and B.B. King's Blues Club on Beale Street; and he dates a Charlie's Angel. Not bad for a boy from Shelby Forest whose early resume includes losing on "Star Search." Skilled as well on keyboards and guitar, Timberlake had the music bug planted well before his rise to fame in 'NSync. Granddad Bill Bomar, a guitarist who had jammed with Elvis ("before anyone knew who he was," he says), schooled Justin in the country artistry of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and George Jones, while father Randy Timberlake played in a bluegrass band called Not Brothers with Justin's uncle. "They'd take him with them when they'd go play," recalls Bill Bomar. "(Justin) would have a little guitar and he'd play. He could harmonize when he was 5 years old." Beale Street also made a decided impression. "When I was about 8 or 9 years old, (I made) my first trip down to Beale Street with my parents," recalled Timberlake during the 50th anniversary of rock fete at Sun Studio on July 5. "You could hear the sounds coming out of all the different cafes and bars. You could really get the essence of what Memphis is all about." Timberlake is a firm believer in the city and its music. It's why he decided to invest in B.B. King's, a move he announced on last year's NBC special, "Down Home in Memphis," filmed at the New Daisy Theatre. He has also given tens of thousands of dollars through his Justin Timberlake Foundation to former schools E.E. Jeter Elementary and Woodstock Middle School for music programs. "I really feel like in the next 10 years, the city is going to build into a lot bigger version of itself," he says. A fan of popular locals from Saliva to 8Ball & MJG, Timberlake was hip to gangsta rap kingpins Three 6 Mafia when he was in middle school. Like Presley, Timberlake is a musical sponge, though he looks most to classic soul artists, including Bluff City legend Al Green, a guest on "Down Home" -- "That was a milestone in my career and forever will be," says Timberlake of their duet on "Let's Stay Together." And at the Sun bash, Timberlake and Isaac Hayes announced plans to work together. "When it comes from a passionate place, when it comes from the heart, that's why they call it soul music," he says, offering his definition of the term. "Because you feel it deep down in the pit of your stomach when you hear it. And that's what I really try to capture. If there's anything I've learned about Memphis music, that's it." Other names that cross the studious singer's lips are Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, beatbox pioneer Doug E. Fresh and, most of all, late '70s soul man Donny Hathaway -- "My favorite singer of all time" -- whose sophisticated style can be heard in Timberlake's smooth tenor phrasing and jazzy touches, especially in concert. Timberlake honed his talent at a young age, from singing at Shelby Forest Baptist Church, where granddad Charles Timberlake was minister and father Randy still presides as music director, to beauty pageants, talent shows and the like ("There is incriminating evidence of me in cowboy hats," he laughs). He found a manager at 10 in mom Lynn Harless, who heads the Orlando, Fla., area artist development and management firm Just-In Time Entertainment. His first big break came when he joined "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" from 1992-1994, a spot shared with fellow up-and-comers Christina Aguilera, future girlfriend Britney Spears, Keri Russell of "Felicity" fame, and soon-to-be 'NSync-er JC Chasez. The Orlando-based vocal quintet (named by Harless) formed a short year later and rode the boy-band wave that the Backstreet Boys kick-started in the late 1990s. 'NSync carved out its own poster-splashing identity, including the record for most albums sold in one week. Try 2.4 million the week No Strings Attached debuted in 2000. To date, 'NSync's albums have sold more than 25 million in the U.S. alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan, including 8.8 million for their eponymous 1998 debut, 11.1 million for No Strings Attached, and 4.9 million for 2001's Celebrity, their final release to date. When the trend was exhausted, Timberlake defied all odds to become the only boy-band member to achieve comparable success as a solo artist. He succeeded, in part, because he shucked a teen sound and image in favor of more adult R&B. Though he hinted at such a move on Celebrity, notably the single "Girlfriend," which came with a Nelly cameo and a Neptunes remix, Timberlake embraced urban music with a vengeance on Justified using two of the hottest producers going, Missy Elliott's working partner Timbaland and returning conspirators the Neptunes. Timberlake was at a club when it dawned on him the direction his solo debut should take. "They were playing hip-hop records, and everybody was jamming on the floor having a good time," he recalls. "And then they went to some old soul records, and they mixed them in over these hip-hop beats. I remember they played Stevie Wonder, 'Do I Do,' but they played a Tribe Called Quest beat underneath, and I was like wow! That's when it hit. Nobody makes R&B records that feel good anymore. It's all about, 'Please hear me sing because I have a great voice.' Which is awesome, that's why you get signed. But that's not why we write songs." The result was a runaway smash fueled by two songs, the slinky dance track "Rock Your Body" and the epic "Is it or is it not about Britney?" breakup ballad "Cry Me a River." Around the same time, Timberlake sealed his solo stature by co-writing and performing with Black Eyed Peas on their ubiquitous hit "Where Is the Love?" "He could have been just a great boy band idol yet he has really experimented and gone to the edge of today's music," says Jerry Schilling, the former head of the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission. Schilling, a Memphis Mafia pal of Elvis Presley's, also sees a quality in Timberlake that helps explain his charisma. "On a personal level, he seems to have that kind of quiet strength that Elvis had. He seems to carry it quite well and still be a nice guy. People would sometimes have preconceived notions and maybe not even like Elvis. But when you got in his presence, he had this honesty that there was no reason why you didn't like him. And I feel that way with Justin." Timberlake, of course, finds himself constantly pursued by a gossip-hungry press. His relationship of a year with Cameron Diaz has replaced "Bennifer" in the public's eye to the point that Diaz went on record in Us Weekly to 1) squelch rumors that they had broken up and 2) defend her beau from a News of the World claim that Timberlake had cheated on her with a British model. Timberlake -- who has filed a lawsuit against News of the World and obtained a restraining order against a photographer for stalking him -- is weary about this part of being famous. "If there's one thing that I don't like about what I do, it's being a tabloid magnet," he says. "I don't want people following me around. I want to know that I can go play House of Blues and then go home and not worry about somebody following me every day wanting to catch a picture of me picking my nose or buying toothpaste at RiteAid." Where Elvis had his Memphis Mafia as a buffer, Timberlake has his Millington-area family. "We are very similar in that way," he says. "My family watches out for me and they're very protective of me." Though his mom and dad divorced when he was a toddler, Justin remains close to both sets of parents, referring to stepfather Paul Harless as "Dad" and Randy as "Daddy." He doesn't have a dead twin, however, as is widely rumored. He did lose a newborn stepsister, however, Laura Katherine Timberlake, in 1997. He's especially proud when talking about business-savvy mother, whom he calls his best friend. He even has her initials, "LBH" on a back-emblazoned tattoo of a cherub with the word "guardian." "She takes care of me," he says. "We've found a really common ground for each other as friends, as people, and so that makes it easier for our relationship to be able to turn those switches on and off, that mom-manager type thing." Family is but one reason why the Bluff City will always be home to Timberlake despite houses in L.A. and Orlando. As other leading folks from the region know, Memphis lets you be yourself, especially if you crave anonymity. "Memphis is one of those places I can count on going to and I don't have to worry about being followed by a whole flock of people with big cameras and obnoxious attitudes," says Timberlake. "Memphis will always feel small town. It's simple and that's the way I like to live." Which also mirrors a certain King of Rock and Roll. Ultimately, Timberlake shares perhaps the most defining trait of Elvis. He truly appears humble before it all. "At the end of the day, I do realize I am a kid from Elvis land, from Memphis, who got to live out his dream." |
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