Justin Timberlake tour videos leave fans appalled: What happens when stars disappoint us.

USA Today

30-07-2025

Justin Timberlake fans are worried about the tour. The world tour.
Audiences at the pop star's Forget Tomorrow World Tour, are worried the singer's 50-city stretch is just that, forgetful. Fan video of recent shows depict Timberlake seemingly delivering lackluster performances, hardly delivering the vocal and dance skills the *NSYNC veteran has come to be known for over the decades.
"Go girl give us nothing," one fan's text overlay read on a TikTok video showing Timberlake on stage Transylvania, Romania, earlier this month with a rain jacket hood pulled over his head as the audience did the heavy lifting of singing the words to "Can't Stop the Feeling!" The video has nearly 300,000 likes and over 11,000 comments.
At another show in Dublin, Ireland, Timberlake punctuated "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by uttering lyrics like "I got this" intermittently, at one point putting his microphone on the stage and seemingly conducting the fans to sing and delivering such a low-key dance performance it felt like an ad-hoc kitchen singalong.
Whether Timberlake intended to phone it in is a different story. But the uninspired performances are leaving some fans laughing. Others are feeling disappointed in a star they feel they've come to know over his many years in the spotlight.
When we feel truly let down by a star, it can be a sign of a parasocial relationship — feeling like you know a celebrity when you really don't. And no one wants to hang out with a friend who doesn't want to be there. Timberlake's actions are leaving some fans feeling just so.
Because we feel this parasocial closeness, we crave real opportunities for connection, Northwestern University Social Psychology professor Wendi Gardner previously explained to USA TODAY.
And today's fans have come to expect a level of vulnerability and effort from stars to curate that bond. Take Beyoncé Knowles-Carter delivering '90s nostalgia with a surprise Destiny's Child reunion at her final "Cowboy Carter" concert in Las Vegas. Or Cyndi Lauper giving heart and color at her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour this summer. And the epic that was Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is not a distant memory to fans, during which fans made relationships with each other while Swift sang a powerhouse three-hour set.
Tour success: Beyoncé makes history with highest grossing country tour, earning over $400 million
"It's the first time I got to see you," said one disappointed Timberlake fan in a video. She shared that she waited in pouring rain all only to have Timberlake take the stage late and barely sing. "I get that you have a lot of concerts and are touring the world, or whatever, but you cannot be singing less than a quarter of a song," the fan said.
Others reacted with humor, making skits that played up Timberlake's seemingly putting in the bare minimum. One acted as if Timberlake's concert "interrupted his busy day," carrying on with chores and answering phone calls between the artist's occasional words into the mic. Another rolled her eyes, donned a hooded sweatshirt and casually held a TV remote to mimic Timberlake's indication the fans should do the singing.
Like Timberlake, Beyoncé, Lauper and Swift have likely sang the same songs hundreds of times to crowds so large their faces are indistinguishable.
But their level of enthusiasm makes each person feel seen. Perhaps Timberlake should take a note, look in the "Mirror" reverberate what fans see in him.