From delays to 'sub-par' performances with barely any singing - insiders reveal what's really going on with Justin Timberlake's world tour

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Justin Timberlake 's world tour has been mired in controversy since his DWAI arrest in the Hamptons, where he made headlines when he told the officer, 'This is going to ruin the tour.'
Since his much-publicized brush with the law in Sag Harbor, Timberlake's tour has been plagued with a slew of issues, including wardrobe malfunctions, low ticket sales, last-minute cancelations, feuds with his staff, and now, accusations of 'lazy' performances.
Earlier in July, an explosive video surfaced of Timberlake, 44, completely losing it on his stage crew in the middle of his set at England's Lytham Festival. The viral clip showed the pop star trying to keep his cool after sound issues disrupted his performance of Cry Me a River.
Timberlake seemingly had a meltdown, and launched into a furious tirade before storming away from his stunned team.
But that's not the end of his touring woes. Now, the pop superstar is facing backlash from his fans for his tour stops in Romania and Ireland as they accuse him of a 'lazy' lip sync and demand that he's canceled for wasting his fans money.
Daily Mail can exclusively reveal the drama behind his controversial concerts... and why his wife Jessica Biel is pleading with him to give up touring amid the brutal backlash.
One insider told the Daily Mail that the SexyBack singer is 'in a rut' amid his flailing tour and desperately 'needs to do something new.' After he played Romania, a viral TikTok received 460,000 likes after a fan who paid 'a lot of money' to see him called him 'an absolute disappointment.'
The Social Network star was late getting onstage, and then apparently only sang about five words of each song, according to concert-goers. He also wore glasses and a hat, so the audience couldn't see him, leading many to walk out in anger.
'You can't be singing two songs and then taking a break,' the content creator said, calling his behavior 'rude' and 'disrespectful,' before asking him to 'rethink' the concept behind his tour. The 'lackluster' performance was so embarrassing that multiple fans demanded a refund.
In Dublin, his performance was much the same, as showcased by videos of Timberlake dropping the mic and simply walking around the stage lazily, without doing the dance moves he's known for.
The same insider divulged that Timberlake 'wants to create new music and to do something he hasn't done yet' but feels stuck singing the same old songs he's been performing for decades, leaving him unmotivated.
While there have been murmurs that he would reunite with his boy band NSYNC, it has yet to come to fruition. The reunion rumors reached a fever pitch as their former competitors the Backstreet Boys reunited at the Las Vegas Sphere as part of a historic residency.
In fact, fans online begged Timberlake to rejoin his former boy band, joking that if he wanted to sing so little during his recent tour dates, he should at least have the others join him onstage.
'It's embarrassing how he's been basically doing karaoke,' the insider agreed. 'He knows that he's lost his mojo and he really wants it back.'
A separate source weighed in on the state of his marriage, and how the tour has been leading to issues with his actress wife. The couple share two children, Silas, 10, and Phineas, four.
'Jessica thinks Justin has aged years since he started The Forget Tomorrow World Tour last April,' the insider claimed.
While the tour is set to end on July 30, with stops left in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, Biel, 43, has seen 'how it has taken its toll on him, not just physically but emotionally.'
Timberlake's devoted wife has stood by him amid multiple high-profile controversies, including in 2019, when he was caught holding hands with actress Alisha Wainwright during a night out in New Orleans.
Now, Biel is worried that he's 'taken on way too much,' with the insider adding that 'he's no longer a twentysomething who can fly around the world doing concert after concert.'
While Timberlake previously reigned supreme in the pop world, he's been met with lackluster sales and even worse reviews throughout the tour. Some locations have even dropped tickets to embarrassingly low prices while he's also performed to half full venues.
It hasn't helped Timberlake's case that he's been forced to cancel a number of concerts with short notice, leaving fans fuming after they spent money and in some cases even traveled to the shows before getting the news that he wasn't taking the stage.
In February, the Cry Me a River singer canceled the final show on his U.S. tour at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena Thursday, claiming he was sick. The shock announcement came only four months after he canceled his October 23 concert at the same venue amid a bout with laryngitis and bronchitis.
It's not just his fans that are upset. The insider spilled that one reason Timberlake has been upset is because 'ticket sales haven't been as buoyant as he'd hoped.'
'He's become short tempered both on and off stage,' the source divulged.