Timberlake's wife shows support after his apology to Spears and Jackson
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Actress Jessica Biel has voiced her support for her husband, Justin Timberlake, after he apologised to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson.
He had posted a vague but earnest Instagram post last Friday, a week after a New York Times documentary on Spears set off a wave of criticism on how he had treated the pop star after their break-up.
His apology also included Jackson and stemmed from their infamous Super Bowl half-time performance in 2004. During the closing duet between Timberlake and Jackson, which ended with him singing "Bet I'll have you naked by the end of this song", he tore away more of her costume than had been planned and revealed her breast.
In the aftermath of what was called a "wardrobe malfunction", Jackson was the subject of most of the backlash and Timberlake later conceded that he should have defended her more.
While he did not specify what exactly he was apologising for in his latest post, he wrote that he had seen the comments on social media in recent days and that he was "deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right".
"I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism," he said.
In the comment section, Biel, 38, posted her support last Saturday with these words: "I love you."
The documentary, Framing Britney Spears, which was released earlier this month, took a new look at Timberlake and Spears' relationship. They broke up in 2002 after dating for three years and the split was framed in the media at that time as being her fault due to her cheating ways.
This was partly implied in a music video by Timberlake, which included a clip from a radio interview in which he was asked whether he had sex with Spears.
He had replied: "Okay, yeah, I did it" to much cheering.
Since the documentary aired, there have been calls on social media for apologies from those who had made jokes at Spears' expense or interviewed her in ways now viewed as insensitive, sexist or simply unfair.
Timberlake was one of the most prominent names to come up.
"I specifically want to apologise to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed," he said in his post. "Because of my ignorance, I didn't recognise it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life, but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again."
