Justin Timberlake Criticized For Tone Deaf Comments About '24 Hour' Parenting

Justin Timberlake came across a little tone-deaf in a recent interview about how hard parenting is during lockdown

Parents are understandably at their wits end after weeks of being parent, teacher, coach, activity coordinator, referee, and Person Everything for their kids. While celebrities are also in the same relative boat, they have access to things most of us would only dream of. So, when Justin Timberlake talked about the trouble they are having being 24/7 parents, people were understandably less than sympathetic.

The father-of-one gave an interview on SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up, and chatted about the difficulties he and wife Jessica Biel are having with their 5-year-old son, Silas. Basically, he said that it’s unnatural to be with your kid All The Damn Time.

“We’re mostly commiserating over the fact that just 24-hour parenting is just not human,” Timberlake said on the show, adding that the need for space goes both ways and that Silas is pretty sick of them, too. “He gets a look,” Timberlake explained. “I’m like, ‘Alright, cool, let’s take a 20.’”

As the hosts laughed, he added: “Alright, I got you. You know what I mean? Just a commercial break.”

He’s not wrong, of course, but his comments came across a little tone-deaf to the millions who have lost their jobs or are trying to work full-time from home while also being “24-hour” parents, as Timberlake put it.

People quickly took to Twitter, lashing out at the former NSYNC star for complaining from an obvious place of privilege.

Of course, some defended the actor’s comments because it is hard.

During the interview, Timberlake also mentioned that the family decided to escape to their house in Montana to “do their part” with regard to social distancing. “To be honest, we thought the best way to kind of do our part was — we have a place in Montana and so, we came up here,” he said.

Of course, that annoyed some as well because people wondered why he wasn’t instead donating his time or money to help with relief efforts. It’s not to say he hasn’t, but he didn’t mention it during the interview.

“We feel very lucky and kind of blessed that we’re in a place where — they’re pretty socially distant here anyway where our place is,” Timberlake continued. “I mean just being able to kind of walk out into your driveway and maybe go for a little hike is always nice.”

Again, congrats to him for having that luxury (you can’t fault him for a successful career) but others are clearly suffering and uninterested in his parenting woes. Maybe next time he’ll consider his audience before complaining.