¿Por qué Justin Timberlake se disculpó con Britney Spears tras casi 20 años de su ruptura?

Justin Timberlake se disculpó este viernes con Britney Spears por haber contribuido a los comentarios misóginos que lapidaron la carrera de la artista, cuyo caso ha vuelto a la luz por un documental elaborado por el diario The New York Times.

En una carta publicada en sus redes sociales, Timberlake admitió que durante años se benefició de un doble estándar moral que perjudicó a sus compañeras de profesión, ya que también cita a Janet Jackson, quien fue vetada durante años por una actuación que compartieron en 2004.

“Lamento profundamente los momentos de mi vida en los que mis acciones contribuyeron al problema, en los que hablé fuera de turno o no defendí lo que era correcto. Entiendo que me quedé corto en estos momentos y en muchos otros y me beneficié de un sistema que perdona la misoginia y el racismo”, aseguró.

El músico hizo públicas sus disculpas tras recibir “mensajes y comentarios” a raíz de la cinta “Framing Britney Spears”, que compara la diferente percepción que tuvo la opinión pública tras su ruptura con Spears.

Cuando Timberlake y Spears terminaron su relación en 2002, él presumió en entrevistas de haberse acostado con ella, mientras que la artista fue señalada como un mal ejemplo para los adolescentes y se buscó su responsabilidad.

“La industria tiene fallos. Prepara a los hombres, especialmente a los blancos, para el éxito. Está diseñada de esa manera. Como hombre en una posición privilegiada, tengo que hablar sobre esto”, apuntó el artista.

Según Timberlake, debido a su ignorancia no reconoció esa doble moral cuando todo pasó pero no quiere volver a beneficiarse “de que otras personas sean derribadas”.

Por su parte, las disculpas a Janet Jackson derivan de su actuación conjunta en el Super Bowl de 2004, cuando él arrancó una parte del vestido de la cantante que dejó al descubierto su pezón.

Jackson fue vetada de actuar en los premios Grammy y en futuros eventos televisivos mientras que Timberlake continuó apareciendo en sucesivas galas.

EL DOCUMENTAL SOBRE BRITNEY SPEARS QUE HA REVUELTO AL MUNDO DEL POP

La semana pasada se estrenó un documental que aporta una visión perturbadora de la fama de Spears y del constante escrutinio público al que estuvo sometida desde joven, con preguntas sobre sus pechos, virginidad y forma de vestir.

Desde 2008, tras ingresar en un centro psiquiátrico, el padre de Spears es el tutor legal de la cantante de 39 años y posee el poder sobre todas las decisiones de su vida.

EFE

Justin Timberlake’s apology to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson is too little, too late

Almost 19 years ago, Justin Timberlake was the one to blame Britney Spears in the press for their break up. 17 years ago, Timberlake barely lifted a finger to defend Janet Jackson from public blowback after he ripped off her bodice during their Super Bowl halftime show.

Both those events, plus others, have cast a long shadow on Timberlake’s likability with some fans who can’t and shouldn’t forgive him for the way he treated both those women.

Now, almost 20 years later, Timberlake has issued an apology on social media, saying he is “deeply sorry for the times my actions contributed to the problem.” Yet, the apology, like all celebrity mea culpa’s, lacks specifics and comes so far after the events it’s close to meaningless.

Timberlake starts by saying he feels pressure to respond due to the increased social media attention brought on him by the new FX, Hulu and New York Times documentary, Framing Britney Spears. 

The documentary has brought renewed focus to the harsh and sexist treatment the pop sensation received throughout her career. In it, Timberlake does not come off looking good. In hindsight, and through a trove of old interviews and clips, it’s clear that his behavior over their breakup played into a misogynistic narrative. All those years of mistreatment, coupled with his lack of support of Jackson, have never really been addressed by Timberlake in any meaningful way, and this apology doesn’t change that.

The social media post hits many of the beats people apologizing for their part in propping up structural racism and sexism seem to think they need to hit. Timberlake admits he made mistakes, he acknowledges that he has privilege, he also says he wants to learn and grow…and yet, there are no specifics, nothing that sounds like a PR team didn’t huddle over various smart phones market testing each word.

It is clinical, it is a Bingo card of “woke” sentiment, devoid of any heart, meaning or real empathy. None of these words mean anything compared to the lasting damage the women he’s addressing have already suffered. Spears was subject to gross, sexist treatment from the press, Jackson was banned from the Super Bowl halftime show for something she had no control over. A few words tossed on a Notes app aren’t enough to make up for years of neglect and willful ignorance.

We’re at the stage in our public discourse where, for many people, a white man simply acknowledging his faults and his privilege is treated as worthy of applause. Yet, while Timberlake does say that he’s decided to be more “vocal about this,” he doesn’t give any specifics, only trots out that well used chestnut, “I can do better and will do better.”

I am not particularly interested in Timberlake’s slow and way too late reckoning with his faults. It would take years and years, quite frankly, to prove that he’s actually changed. Some may say an apology is a good start, but this doesn’t even meet the very low bar for that. This is not an apology, but crisis management from an actor who has a new movie to promote.

In the Timberlake’s case, the sad truth is that there’s little recourse to all the damage he’s caused. He’s stayed silent for so long and reaped so many rewards for his shrewd manipulation of the system that almost anything he says now wouldn’t be enough. He trampled Spears into the ground to further his own career and he stayed quiet while Jackson was being unfairly maligned for his actions. Unless he can go back in time, there’s nothing he can do or say that would make any of that OK.

More from the original source: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/02/justin-timberlakes-apology-to-britney-spears-and-janet-jackson-too-little-too-late