Justin Timberlake's Most Controversial Moments Ever

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

According to BET, Justin Timberlake tweeted (and then deleted) in August 2014, "A happiest of Bdays to my mother chucking ninja, @Madonna!! Hope you have a great one, M!" The post sparked immediate backlash for multiple reasons. 

Us Weekly reported that writing "mother chucking ninja" was another way for him to say "mother f**king n***a." Previously, Grantland shared that Katy Perry used the word "ninja" as a substitution for the "N" word when she sang along to Jay-Z and Kanye West's song, "N****s in Paris" during a 2012 Radio 1 performance. In response to Timberlake's post, one Twitter user declared, "I just ended my relationship w/Justin," and another posted, "'Mother chucking ninja.' Get Justin Timberlake the f**k out of here." 

According to the Daily Mail, Timberlake's rep didn't respond to phone calls, and the singer-actor hadn't apologized for the since-deleted social media gaffe. Madonna did not acknowledge it either. Furthermore, the outlet pointed out that the timing for Timberlake's tweet couldn't have been any worse, since it was shortly after the Black Lives Matter protests turned violent in Ferguson, Mo., following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. In fact, one person tweeted, "Justin Timberlake chose *this* week to call Madonna 'my ninja'? I just can't." 

Instead of saying "sorry," Timberlake retweeted a post, which said, "The world is watching #Ferguson. [And we pray.]," per the Daily Mail. Nevertheless, Timberlake's career didn't face any consequences from this error in judgement.

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