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As Sean “Diddy” Combs sits in a Brooklyn jail facility, and lawsuits against him continue to pile up, many feel vindicated — including some of his past collaborators.
In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, *NSYNC member Lance Bass revealed that he was never a fan of the disgraced rapper and producer, as he attempted to sabotage the famed boy band.
During a 2002 tour in promotion of the band’s album Celebrity — which spawned hits like “Pop,” “Girlfriend,” and “Gone” — Bass overheard Diddy offer Justin Timberlake some rather shocking advice.
Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Lance Bass, and Joey Fatone of NSync at the Big Help Concert back in 1999. In September 2024, Bass revealed some shocking advice he overheard Diddy give Timberlake.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc via Getty Images
“I never kind of liked him,” Bass said. “The very last show [on the tour], in Orlando, I overheard him talking to Justin and being like, ‘You need to drop these F–ers. You need to go solo. You need to drop [them].’ And I was like ‘I don’t like you anymore, Diddy.’ At my own show? What the hell!”
*NSYNC — which was comprised of Timberlake, Bass, Joey Fatone, J.C. Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick — did disband shortly after the Celebrity Tour, with Timberlake also releasing his debut album, Justified that year. The group has since reunited on a few occasions, notably at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, where they performed a medley of hits, again in 2023 for the song “Better Place” from the Trolls Band Together soundtrack, and most recently on a song called “Paradise” from Timberlake’s most recent album, Everything I Thought It Was.
Meanwhile, Timberlake has recently faced backlash after taking a plea deal following a DWI incident back in June. Per the deal, Timberlake is required to do 25 hours of community service and his license has been suspended for 90 days.
At the time of writing, Timberlake has not directly commented on the Diddy allegations or the related lawsuits.