In a new video, Justin Timberlake ridiculed himself by adopting the meme-worthy mispronunciation of his name from NSYNC’s It’s Gonna Be Me.
It would appear that Timberlake is still haunted by a 2012 mispronunciation that shattered the Internet, or so he claimed in a recent Instagram video.
The video commences with an inquiry from influencer @umgabi: “What is a word that you once mispronounced and it continues to haunt you?” In response, the 43-year-old responds delightfully, “Um… Me.”
The interminable number of parodies originated from the Sexy Back singer’s pronunciation of the word “me” as “May” on NSYNC’s 2000 hit It’s Gonna Be Me.”
The initial incarnation of the meme, which featured a cheerful visage of the father of two atop a calendar with the inscription “It’s Gonna Be May” over it, debuted on Tumblr in 2012, per E! News.
Subsequently, online users have disseminated various iterations of the meme, each showcasing peculiar images of the actor from The Social Network.
Joey Fatone of NSYNC commented on the viral meme in a recent interview with People magazine, stating that the boy band frequently shares a “good one” of it in the group conversation, proving that the joke has not been forgotten.
His comment: “I found it to be quite amusing. Occasionally, one of us will discover an excellent one, and we will share it in the group text.