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Justin Timberlake is set to perform during halftime of Super Bowl LII.
He made the announcement Sunday on Twitter and ahead of NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast in a humorous video in which he appeared alongside Jimmy Fallon, his longtime friend and frequent collaborator. (The game will air on NBC, which also is home to Fallon’s The Tonight Show.)
I DO have the time. Half the time…#PepsiHalftime #SBLII @Pepsi @NFL @JimmyFallon @FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/4Z4Dz29l3X
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) October 23, 2017
Timberlake previously performed during the 2001 halftime show as part of ‘N Sync along with Britney Spears and Aerosmith. But when it comes to the Super Bowl, he’s perhaps remembered more for his 2004 performance of “Rock Your Body” with Janet Jackson in which he ripped off part of her costume, revealing part of her breast adorned with a nipple shield. Jackson and Timberlake both apologized; in his statement, issued shortly after the show ended, Timberlake blamed the incident, which also has been referred to as Nipplegate, on a “wardrobe malfunction” — introducing that phrase into the popular lexicon.
CBS, which aired the Super Bowl that year, emphatically denied having any prior knowledge of the stunt — the 2004 halftime show was produced by MTV — but the FCC fined the network $550,000. That fine was appealed and ultimately voided, but the FCC implemented a five-second delay during live TV performances thereafter.
Timberlake also made an appearance during the 2017 Super Bowl commercials with Christopher Walken for a Bai Antioxidant Infusions water commercial. The ad featured a dramatic reading of ‘N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” or, as the band later tweeted, “#BaiBaiBai.”
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Timberlake is currently working on his fifth studio album, which reportedly is inspired by his Memphis roots. He has not released any new music since last summer’s hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” from the soundtrack to the DreamWorks animated film Trolls, in which he starred opposite Anna Kendrick. He also was nominated for an Oscar for the song and performed it to open the Oscars ceremony earlier this year. Timberlake has signed on to the Trolls sequel, which is slated for a 2020 debut, and also stars opposite Kate Winslet in Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel, which is set to hit theaters Dec. 1.
The singer recently made appearances at the Pilgrimage Festival in Franklin, Tennessee, on Sept. 23 and Dave Matthews’ Concert for Charlottesville in the Virginia community on Sept. 24.
Super Bowl LII is set to air live on NBC on Feb. 4, 2018, from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lady Gaga performed at last year’s game, with the year before featuring a performance by Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars to commemorate Super Bowl 50.
Other recent halftime performers have included Katy Perry with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, Mars with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce with Destiny’s Child and Madonna.
Jennifer Konerman of The Hollywood Reporter and Allison Stubblebine of Billboard contributed to this report.
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