One Week Since Justin Timberlake’s Lyme Reveal. Did You Notice? No. That’s the Point.
How a Thursday night Instagram post shifted headlines from backlash to sympathy
Yesterday, I had a conversation with a former client who likes to rib me about my more celebrity-focused content. Fair. My media commentary on trending stories is primarily what I am known for and why newsrooms call me when they want a take.
I get it.
However, a confession: my skin gets a little thin when people think my career’s purpose is to focus on celebrities. When people encounter me in the real world and immediately start in on a celebrity story — more often than not, I am wincing on the inside.
I don’t want people thinking I am the kind of person who sits around genuinely wondering if Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican. (Okay, I checked. She is.)
I am not invested in celebrities’ personal lives. I am invested in how they manage their reputations when the spotlight shifts in the wrong direction. Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively — different lifestyles, but same instinct when the narrative turns. As it turns out, they manage it just like anyone else would. (Often, poorly).
The person I was speaking to on the other end of the call gets this which is why, once we cleared the small talk, they launched into the real reason for calling: a brewing crisis at work. They wanted me to tell them it was nothing.
It wasn’t.
They called for the same reason I ride trending news stories. Losing stakeholder trust always comes at a cost. This is an especially hard pill to swallow when the person at the center of the brewing problem is a genuinely good leader. However, when someone has a bone to pick these days, they rarely do it in silence. They put you on full blast.
This is how the crisis cycle works. This is why people call me — because I see it all the time.
Enter Justin Timberlake
That is why, on my podcast this week, I highlighted Justin Timberlake’s Lyme disease diagnosis. Do I care about Timberlake? Not especially. My generation still has not forgiven him for torpedoing Janet Jackson’s career after the Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.”
But I was very interested in when the announcement dropped. It was late on a Thursday night in the summer, via Instagram, right in the middle of the Sydney Sweeney ad hype. (Note: I’m quoted in this CNN article.) Conveniently timed to step on headlines about his phoned-in performances on the “Forget Tomorrow World Tour,” which wrapped in late July.
For weeks, TikTok and other platforms were full of videos showing Timberlake pushing the crowd to sing while barely singing himself.
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Numerous social media posts from fans called his energy low and his effort nonexistent. It was starting to snowball into a genuine reputational problem that piled onto the already poor album sales and the sense that he does not care anymore.
Then came the statement.
Timberlake’s (or more likely, his publicist’s) goal was to use the diagnosis to explain his recent performances. No word on when he was diagnosed or what treatment he is receiving, since those details would invite scrutiny. But the message achieved two things:
It shut down the growing “lazy performer” narrative.
It earned him sympathy from fans, the press, and his wife, Jessica Biel.
I even searched Muck Rack, my partner for tracking media coverage, for stories about the backlash. There was far more news stories about the Lyme announcement. The narrative had been completely redirected.
I also invited relationship expert Dr. Abby Medcalf to join me for a members-only live chat to explore other theories about why Timberlake might have chosen this path. Getting a PhD-level analysis on what could really be driving this PR direction was fascinating and added an entirely new layer to the conversation. (The replay is available to members. It was such an interesting conversation.)
The PR Upside
Whether the diagnosis is true or not is not the point here. Lyme disease awareness is a real public good, so that is a win. The bigger upside was for Timberlake. He ended his tour not as the guy mailing it in, but as the guy struggling through illness. Fans who wanted their money back instead got a reason to forgive.
The complaints faded. The coverage turned supportive. And all of it hinged on the timing.
This week on the podcast: the Justin Timberlake statement. PR win or PR spin? Listen, then tell me where you land.
Oh for sure PR spin that ended up being a win from the other events that happened around the same time that no one could really focus on investigating his story so they offered him sympathy and believed him and moved on. BUT I do feel like he’s always been very vain and addicted to being in the media so I’m wondering how he will keep himself relevant if he’s already used an illness to gather followers? Fans know he can’t perform as well now. A short residency? NSYNC reunion finally because he’s desperate? I’m glad the Lyme community is getting attention though.
Or PR yawn. Justin Timberlake's celebrity significance has faded. It's most evident in his latest SNL appearances. Where he used host and perform songs -- a la Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande -- now he's relegated to musical guest and a cameo.
If it helps the Lyme research and advocacy community, great. I just don't believe he has the cachet he once had anymore to make this a sustaining story.