Highlights
- Justin Timberlake apologized for his early-2000s beatbox era after Hannah Young’s viral Instagram Reel roasted it.
- “Too many boots. Too many cats,” the singer wrote, admitting he still can’t explain what those ambitions were.
- He called it slightly regrettable on Hot Ones in 2023 but now warns fans he can’t promise he won’t do it again.
Justin Timberlake has finally apologized for a crime from the early 2000s. Not that one. The beatboxing.
The pop star issued a joke apology after pop culture commentator Hannah Young brought up his beatboxing era in an Instagram video on Monday, October 5.
His verdict on himself? “Too many boots. Too many cats. I hope you can forgive me.”
Young, who goes by “uhhuhhannah” on Instagram, opened her Reel with an airtight thesis. “We don’t talk about Justin Timberlake beatboxing enough,” she said.
Her point was that he’d break into vocal percussion mid-song, and nobody questioned it or reminded him the band already had drums.
No intervention. No notes. Just fans swooning over his instrumental imitations.
The post blew up on social media, so much so that Justin saw it and replied.
“I often look back on that time as well,” he wrote.
Then came the confessional. He admitted he still hasn’t come up with any answers, adding: “I don’t know how to apologize enough for whatever those ambitions were.”
“Whatever those ambitions were” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
This is a man who beatboxed on the song Pop from *NSYNC‘s 2001 album Celebrity. A whole single. On purpose.
And he didn’t stop at the studio. He also brought the skill into live beatboxing battles during the group’s tours.
The regret isn’t new, either. During a 2023 Hot Ones appearance with *NSYNC, he described one old beatboxing battle as “slightly regrettable.”
Lance Bass, loyal bandmate to the end, called it iconic.
But don’t mistake contrition for retirement.
“Also, I can’t promise I won’t do it again. God help us all.”
So the apology ships with a warning label. Classic.
Honestly, this is JT’s sweet spot. Timberlake has experience making public apologies, and he shines at the jokey ones.
Back in 2022, after a video of him awkwardly dancing onstage in Washington, D.C., went viral, he blamed his feet. Then his pants.
“Maybe it was the khakis. It was a real khaki vibe,” he said.
He even told his feet, “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”
Of course, his most famous mea culpa had no punchline. In 2021, he publicly apologized to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, writing that he did so “because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Next to that, a few thousand stray boots and cats feel pretty forgivable.
Fine, Justin. You’re absolved. Just keep the mic pointed at lyrics.
