Despite rumors throughout the week, Justin Timberlake won't be using a hologram of Prince to help him with the Super Bowl halftime show
Report: Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl Halftime Show to feature a hologram of Prince https://t.co/mRPjnaOXtS pic.twitter.com/oEyj2VOzL2
— SPIN (@SPIN) February 3, 2018
Prince, the Minneapolis born music legend who died in April of 2016 said in a 1998 interview that using a hologram of a deceased musician would be "the most demonic thing imaginiable."
"That whole virtual reality thing … it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ['Free As a Bird'], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave … that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control."
So, it would be a pretty big slap in the face to feature him as a hologram in his hometown on the biggest stage in the world.
It's not certain wether the Prince hologram was scrapped after fan and Prince family backlash, of which there was plenty...
There was never any plans for Justin’s Super Bowl LII Halftime Show to include a hologram of Prince#PepsiHalftime#PrinceHologram #SBLII#FakeNews
— PRNFamily® (@PRNFamily) February 4, 2018
... or, if there was never a Prince hologram in the works to begin with. However, there are rumors that the show will not go on without, at the very least, an homage to Prince by Timberlake.
Reliable sources tell me you shouldn’t expect a projected image of #Prince performing on stage next to @jtimberlake during #SuperBowlLII halftime show tomorrow. Sounds like plans involve more of an homage than anything else.
— Iris Pérez (@IrisPerezFOX9) February 3, 2018
Though, Prince and Timberlake never had a great relationship when Prince was alive.
After Timberlake released "SexyBack," Prince responded by saying, "For whoever is claiming they are bringing sexy back, sexy never left."
Early next year, Timberlake furthered the fued by mocking the 5 foot, 3 inch Prince's height.
It's safe to say, Timberlake's return to the Super Bowl halftime show for the first time since the 2004 Janet Jackson incident isn't going as smoothly as he wanted it too.
His mere presence in Minneapolis sparked tweets with the hashtag #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay to fight the injustice of Timberlake preforming again whereas Jackson has been cast aside.
#JanetJacksonAppreciationDay trending on Justin’s Super Bowl day is the type of petty black history month magic I Iive for. pic.twitter.com/N1bWPtnCwv
— ㅤً (@The__Prototype) February 4, 2018
