Timberlake Jokes About His Early-Career Beatboxing

Justin Timberlake responded to a social media video poking fun at his early-career beatboxing with a joking comment in which he said he could not apologize enough for the habit, while adding that he could not promise he would not do it again. The exchange began after content creator Hannah Young posted an Instagram video about Timberlake’s tendency to make vocal percussion sounds described as “boots and cats” during performances and recordings. Young questioned why audiences had accepted the beatboxing without asking why a professional studio needed vocal imitations of drums. She also acknowledged that audiences had liked it, saying, “And we liked it. That’s what I need us to sit with.” Timberlake replied in the comments that he often looked back on that period and had not come up with answers. He wrote that he did not know how to apologize enough for those ambitions, repeated “Too many boots. Too many cats,” and asked for forgiveness. He then added that he could not promise not to do it again. The comment was presented as humorous; the words do not establish that he intended a serious apology.