Justin Timberlake Blames Sneakers & Khakis For Awkward Viral Dance Moves

Justin Timberlake, who was making a special appearance at the festival Something In The Water in Washington D.C., got just a little clowned on when clips of his dancing went viral online.

Timberlake was performing his song “Sexy Back” as part of the Pharrell & Friends headlining performance mostly featuring singer and prolific music producer Pharrell Williams.

Here’s a clip of the dancing to judge for yourself. At the start of the clip, Timberlake called out “D.C., beat your feat!” He then launched into some foot shuffling that looked, well, halfhearted at best. The camera also panned down to his old-looking sneakers and khaki pants during the dance break.

Timberlake finally responded to the light criticism and TikTok parodies of him in a funny Instagram video. He said he had “two reasons” to apologize to D.C. fans, before panning down to the sneakers he was wearing and snapping “here, and here!”

He cracked that he “had a long talk” with the sneakers and told them “don’t you ever do that to me again.” He also joked that his khaki pants might have reduced his dance ability slightly when he said, “Maybe it was khakis, it was a real khaki vibe.”

It’s always good to see a celeb who is happy to take mockery head-on and not be defensive, though there are certainly some Timberlake warriors on Twitter who felt the need to defend him from some very mild roasting.