People are outraged at Justin Timberlake for his response to a speech about racism
Timberlake tweeted that he was "inspired" by Williams' speech on institutional racism, which addressed the police-related deaths of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and many others, before concluding with an attack on cultural appropriation.
After Timberlake praised Williams' speech, the singer's Twitter followers lashed out, accusing him of "appropriating" black culture himself as a white R&B artist.
One person responded to Timberlake's praise of Williams by tweeting, "So does this mean you're going to stop appropriating our music and culture?"
Timberlake then responded to this tweet with a statement that only further angered some:
Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation.
Bye. https://t.co/FeTmGLOKVc
Timberlake's "we are the same" statement regarding racial unity set the internet off, as his followers went on to lambast the singer for being racially insensitive.
"We are the same..." Justin Timberlake pic.twitter.com/NKQeOIFRK3
- R'asclat Al Ghul (@Felonious_munk) June 27, 2016
@jtimberlake man this wasn't your time dude. Wasn't your time. pic.twitter.com/rwsuJAkVZ6
- ImaniIzzi (@TheDivaShiva) June 27, 2016
Timberlake responded to the backlash with a string of tweets, saying he felt "misunderstood." He went on to apologize for his comments.
I feel misunderstood. I responded to a specific tweet that wasn't meant to be a general response. I shouldn't have responded anyway...
- Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I forget this forum sometimes... I was truly inspired by @iJesseWilliams speech because I really do feel that we are all one... A human race
- Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US.
--JT
- Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
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