{"id":103091,"date":"2017-02-09T10:50:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T15:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/?p=103091"},"modified":"2019-09-12T16:09:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T20:09:09","slug":"tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/","title":{"rendered":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this, a Thursday in February, it’s time to sit down and reflect and consider what’s really important. That’s why I have embraced the recent #scoop that Justin Timberlake left *NSYNC for . . . reasons.<\/p>\n

Or, as outlined in his interview for The Hollywood Reporter, he “cared more about the music than some people.”<\/p>\n

1999 versions of us are losing our shit right now.<\/p>\n

“I was growing out of it,” JT told the magazine, breaking our hearts despite the fact we knew that there’s no way a boy band can sustain itself into adulthood. “I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group. And I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart.”<\/p>\n

So I mean, let’s read into this like the web sleuths we’ve become: Justin\u00a0obviously couldn’t stand Chris Kirkpatrick’s dreadlocks (been there, dude) and realized he had to jettison himself of the group to be truly free. Which may be why *NSYNC — as we all painfully recall — never actually said they were breaking up. They said they were going on a “hiatus,” which is why I knew One Direction’s same line<\/a> last year was a cold, hard lie. (But that’s a conversation for another day.)<\/p>\n

“We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big,” he continued. “It started out as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche.”<\/p>\n

Well some of us like an avalanche if it’s wrapped in a daydream, JUSTIN. But also: fair, fine, and at least we finally have the full story.<\/p>\n

That is, until *NSYNC makes their own tell-all documentary like the Backstreet Boys did. And then we’ll be privy to all. ALL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this, a Thursday in February, it’s time to sit down and reflect and consider what’s really important. That’s why I have embraced the recent #scoop that Justin Timberlake left *NSYNC for . . . reasons. Or, as outlined in his interview for The Hollywood Reporter, he “cared more about the music than some people.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67426,"featured_media":103094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81718],"tags":[83613,82604,65719,66011,66012,68354,81720],"class_list":["post-103091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-anne-t-donahue-musings","tag-boy-band","tag-breakup","tag-jt","tag-justin-timberlake","tag-bad-habits","tag-topstory"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In case you thought the word "hiatus" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In case you thought the word "hiatus" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"29Secrets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/29Secrets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne T. Donahue\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/annetdonahue\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@29secrets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne T. Donahue\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anne T. Donahue\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/f32cc7765adcd72e9b6b40c94d96fc39\"},\"headline\":\"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Anne T. Donahue\",\"boy band\",\"breakup\",\"jt\",\"justin timberlake\",\"nsync\",\"topstory\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pop Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\",\"name\":\"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"In case you thought the word \\\"hiatus\\\" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/\",\"name\":\"29Secrets\",\"description\":\"Dating Advice, Beauty Secrets and Fashion Trends\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Maple Media Ltd.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo.png\",\"width\":320,\"height\":134,\"caption\":\"Maple Media Ltd.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/29Secrets\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/29secrets\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/29secrets\",\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/29secrets\",\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/29secretstv\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/f32cc7765adcd72e9b6b40c94d96fc39\",\"name\":\"Anne T. Donahue\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/29Secrets-Author-Anne-T-Donahue-100x100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/29Secrets-Author-Anne-T-Donahue-100x100.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Anne T. Donahue\"},\"description\":\"ANNE T. DONAHUE is the author of Nobody Cares: Essays and a writer who spends too much time romanticizing the nineties. She lives in Cambridge, Ontario where her favourite pastime is trying to befriend the neighbourhood cats and asking her own if he's a baby. (He is.) On top of this, she also writes for outlets such as the Globe & Mail, CBC, and whoever asks nicely.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/annetdonahue\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/annetdonahue\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/author\/anne-t-donahue\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets","description":"In case you thought the word \"hiatus\" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets","og_description":"In case you thought the word \"hiatus\" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.","og_url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/","og_site_name":"29Secrets","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/29Secrets","article_published_time":"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne T. Donahue","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/annetdonahue","twitter_site":"@29secrets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne T. Donahue","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/"},"author":{"name":"Anne T. Donahue","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/f32cc7765adcd72e9b6b40c94d96fc39"},"headline":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC?","datePublished":"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg","keywords":["Anne T. Donahue","boy band","breakup","jt","justin timberlake","nsync","topstory"],"articleSection":["Pop Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/","name":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC? - 29Secrets","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-09T15:50:28+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-12T20:09:09+00:00","description":"In case you thought the word \"hiatus\" didn't mean boy band breakup, JT shares why he left NSYNC.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/29s_nsync.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/pop-culture\/tbt-why-did-justin-timberlake-leave-nsync\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"#TBT: Why Did Justin Timberlake Leave NSYNC?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#website","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/","name":"29Secrets","description":"Dating Advice, Beauty Secrets and Fashion Trends","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#organization","name":"Maple Media Ltd.","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo.png","width":320,"height":134,"caption":"Maple Media Ltd."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/29Secrets","https:\/\/x.com\/29secrets","http:\/\/instagram.com\/29secrets","http:\/\/pinterest.com\/29secrets","http:\/\/youtube.com\/29secretstv"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/f32cc7765adcd72e9b6b40c94d96fc39","name":"Anne T. Donahue","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/29Secrets-Author-Anne-T-Donahue-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/29Secrets-Author-Anne-T-Donahue-100x100.jpg","caption":"Anne T. Donahue"},"description":"ANNE T. DONAHUE is the author of Nobody Cares: Essays and a writer who spends too much time romanticizing the nineties. She lives in Cambridge, Ontario where her favourite pastime is trying to befriend the neighbourhood cats and asking her own if he's a baby. (He is.) On top of this, she also writes for outlets such as the Globe & Mail, CBC, and whoever asks nicely.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/annetdonahue\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/annetdonahue"],"url":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/author\/anne-t-donahue\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}