Justin Timberlake is slated to headline the Super Bowl LII halftime show, but he won't be bringing his old *NSYNC friends with him onstage.
Fellow *NSYNC alum Joey Fatone confirms that the sporting and entertainment event won't be featuring a reunion of the '90s boyband that's also composed of JC Chasez, Lance Bass, and Chris Kirkpatrick.
"I'm here right now," Fatone tells TMZ over the weekend. "If I was doing something, I'd be at rehearsals right now. There's your proof. There's nothing wrong with that. He's doing his thing!"
Fatone's recent statement is a different tune to the one he was singing when Timberlake first signed on for the halftime show. In an interview with TMZ in October 2017, he says that there's a possibility for an *NSYNC reunion for the Super Bowl.
If a reunion does happen, it won't be the first time the five members share the stage since the breakup. The *NSYNC members have previously performed together at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001. Three years later, Timberlake took to the stage with Janet Jackson in an infamous performance that became one of the biggest and most criticized scandals in event history.
Super Bowl 'Nipplegate' Scandal Repeat?
Aside from shutting down reunion speculations, Fatone is also quite certain that his former bandmate will not be inviting Jackson after the pair's controversial Super Bowl performance in 2004 when Timberlake accidentally exposed the singer's breast.
"He's not that kind of person," Fatone says, explaining why he believes his former bandmate will not invite Jackson on the Super Bowl stage with him. "He's not controversial like that. He is in a sense, but not in a sense to do it deliberately."
For his part, Timberlake has said that he already cleared the air with Jackson to resolve and make peace after the incident.
Super Bowl LII
So if *NSYNC isn't showing up for the Super Bowl LII, what can audiences expect from Timberlake's second attempt at the halftime spotlight? According to the former Disney alum, an original and electrifying performance.
"What I really want to do is take the opportunity to put together a performance that feels like it unifies," Timberlake says in a conversation with NBC sports' Mike Tirico. "I feel like that would be the ultimate accomplishment, and then the icing on the cake is at some point within that 12 minutes that everybody is shaking their booty."
The Super Bowl LII will be on Sunday, Feb. 4.
