14 DAY TRIAL // Justin Timberlake is now finding himself at the center of a huge media storm after his very uninspired choice of wishing a happy birthday to Madonna on Twitter by using the term “my ninja.” He’s deleted the tweet since, but he’s still not out of the woods yet.
People, many of whom used to be Justin’s fans until this, are still fuming mad that he would refer to the Queen of Pop by using a term that is nothing but a substitute for the very offensive N-word.
They don’t understand how Justin, a white man, would use this word to refer to a white woman, especially in the context of the Ferguson protests, prompted by the fatal shooting of a black unarmed teenager.
And yet he did: “A HAPPIEST of Bdays to my mother chucking ninja, @Madonna!! Hope you have a great one, M!,” JT tweeted.
“Ninja” has been used as substitute of the N-word before, particularly by the Juggalo Nation, and more recently, by Katy Perry when she covered Jay Z and Kanye West’s hit track “[N-word]s in Paris,” which she sang as “ninjas in Paris.”
As noted above, Justin’s tweet is no longer available online but there is photographic proof that he did post it, if the ongoing furor is not enough to convince you.
However, even though the outrage is now bigger than ever, this would not be the first time that either Justin or Madonna come under fire for racially-charged comments. Justin even tweeted a rape “joke” once, so he doesn’t limit himself to just one thing when it comes to offending.
Madonna, on her part, referred to her 13-year-old son Rocco by the N-word, in an Instagram post from January this year. That too was deleted when she realized what she’d done and criticism came pouring at her from all sides, but she did say that, as a free woman, she had the right to use whichever word she wanted on social media.
Justin never apologized for any of his mishaps, so perhaps expecting him to do so now, even with the events in Ferguson in mind, would be pointless. Certain celebrities, like JT and Madonna, can do with a little bad press and even fan criticism because their fanbases are so solid they don’t have to worry about how said negativity would influence their sales.
Meanwhile, they continue to tweet first and think after, but for many fans, as the second photo the gallery confirms, it might be a little too late.
