Fans furious as Justin Timberlake cancels show at last minute amid trainwreck ‘world tour’

Justin Timberlake canceled the final show on his US tour in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday on short notice as he claimed he was ill – leaving fans holding tickets fuming.

‘You guys, I’m heartbroken,’ he said Thursday in a statement on Instagram. ‘I have to cancel the show tonight. I went into soundcheck battling the flu and now it’s gotten the best of me.

‘It kills me to disappoint you and my team who worked so hard to make this show happen. I want to reassure you, you’ll be getting refunds for your tickets. I love you all.’ 

For years, the singer reigned supreme as the undisputed Prince of Pop – but as he closes out the U.S. dates of his ‘world tour’ with lackluster sales and even worse reviews, it seems his career is at a crossroads.

As The Forget Tomorrow World Tour was supposed to wrap up its first leg Thursday, Dailymail.com has taken a closer look at the tour’s disappointing ticket sales, questionable creative decisions and mediocre reviews – amplified by an embarrassing scandal in which Timberlake predicted danger on the horizon in regard to the tour.

The 10-time Grammy winner, 44, on Thursday had been to play the final date on the trek in Columbus, Ohio at the Nationwide Arena – as tickets throughout the venue remained available the day of the show.

The former *NSYNC leading singer – who turned 44 last month – advertised the concert on his Instagram Stories Wednesday. 

He shared a sequence in which he was standing on stage in front of thousands of cheering fans with the caption, ‘Last show tomorrow.’

Timberlake’s show on Monday at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota was roundly panned by The Minnesota Star Tribune‘s Jon Bream.

The veteran music critic and reporter criticized the pop superstar for selecting a concert playlist that had too many new tracks fans were unfamiliar with, instead of the pop staples they purchased tickets to see him perform.

The Memphis, Tennessee native performed ’11 songs from his 2024 album, Everything I Thought It Was … even though hardly anyone bought or even cared about the album,’ Bream wrote.

Timberlake took the stage Monday in front of 11,000 fans at Xcel Energy Center, which says it ‘provides configuration capabilities to accommodate more than 20,000 guests.’ 

The show was a makeup for a concert Timberlake canceled last fall amid a bout with bronchitis and laryngitis, Bream said.

The superstar singer apparently was still lethargic, Bream said, as Timberlake neglected to take part in one of his concert traditions: ‘Standing on the edge of a tilted, floating monolith (attached by a harness) as he has done in dozens of other cities as an encore.’

Fans on Facebook also echoed similar sentiments about the performance falling short without the monolith sequence. 

One noted that Timberlake ‘spent quite a bit of time on a second stage at the back of the arena, and finished out the show back there, so lost a little luster for anyone toward the front.’

Timberlake also neglected to mention his wife Jessica Biel, 42– who he shares sons Silas, nine, and Phineas, four, with – or her ties to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, as she is a native of Ely, Bream added.

Timberlake was able to salvage the concert with his ‘natural showmanship, deft musicianship and contagious energy,’ Bream wrote.

Timberlake did perform signature hits such as Can’t Stop the Feeling, Cry Me a River, and Rock Your Body in a performance the critic labeled as ‘inflated, awkwardly paced [and] yet sometimes exciting,’ Bream wrote.

Following the show in Minnesota, Timberlake on Wednesday thanked his collaborators for their efforts on the nationwide tour in a post to his 72.1M followers on Instagram.

‘Only one more show to go… and I wanted to take a minute to shout out this incredible tour family,’ he said. ‘These are the people who keep this whole thing running.

‘You guys don’t get to see everyone on stage, but without every single person in this picture – none of this would be possible.’

The My Love wrapped up in saying, ‘So much love. Let’s do it ONE MORE TIME tomorrow night in Columbus. #TFTWTOUR @thetnkids.’

Following Thursday’s concert, the pop veteran is slated to perform at a number of festivals overseas for more than 20 shows over a four-month span, commencing on March 25 at Lollapalooza Argentina 2025 at the Hipodromo De San Isidro. 

Timberlake wraps up that leg of his tour with a July 20 show in Paris at Hippodrome Paris Longchamp. 

The stumble for the What Goes Around… Comes Around vocalist comes after years in which he had maintained a strong image with the public while weathering a number of scandals that might have sunk the career of a less-beloved celeb.

The most recent of which was a June 18 driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrest in Sag Harbor, New York in which he told the arresting officer, ‘This is gonna screw up the tour.’

Following his plea deal in September 13, Timberlake made a statement condemning drunken driving after he accepted a plea deal to driving while impaired.

‘I try to hold myself to a very high standard, for myself, and this was not that,’ Timberlake told reporters outside of the court, according to the AP. ‘Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car. There’s so many alternatives. Call a friend. Take an Uber. There’s many travel apps. Still, take a taxi.

‘This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.’

The SexyBack singer also dealt with blowback in 2023 after his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears released her memoir The Woman In Me – claiming that he had been unfaithful to her.

Following his drunken driving arrest, Spears fans mocked Timberlake after he had urged her to stop drinking in a 2007 clip; and bought in large numbers her 2011 single Criminal, as a nod to the imbroglio.