Super Bowl LII halftime show performer Justin Timberlake
The Super Bowl LII Halftime Show (officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show) took place on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of Super Bowl LII. Justin Timberlake was the featured performer, as confirmed by the National Football League (NFL) on October 22, 2017. It was televised nationally by NBC, and received mixed reviews, with a total of 106.6 million television viewers, down 9% from the previous years' Super Bowl LI halftime show.Background
In July 2017, Britney Spears was rumored to be the headliner, but Pepsi quickly denied it. During August and September 2017, several publications informed that Timberlake was the frontrunner to perform at the Super Bowl LII halftime, first along with his frequent-collaborator Jay-Z as co-headliner, and then as the solo performer. Jay-Z was also rumored to be a solo performer, but it was reported that he turned it down due to the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick, which he later confirmed in his song "Apeshit."  A spokesperson from the NFL stated at the time, "along with Pepsi, we know that we will put on a spectacular show. When it is time to announce her name we will do it. Or his name. Or their names." The NFL confirmed the announcement that Timberlake would be headlining on October 22 with a video starring Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon.This was Timberlake's third appearance in a Super Bowl halftime show. As a member of NSYNC, Timberlake appeared in the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show (2001), and as a guest artist in the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show (2004), which performance featured a controversial incident where Timberlake accidentally exposed one of Janet Jackson's breasts on national television, described as a wardrobe malfunction. The Parents Television Council penned an open letter to Timberlake asking to keep the performance "family-friendly." While the organization acknowledged that Timberlake apologized for the 2004 incident, they asked him to stay true to his word, saying "we are heartened by your response that the events of 2004 are not going to happen in 2018," as the singer stated in a prior interview that "we are not going to do that again."In an interview with Billboard, Pepsi executives expressed: