Justin Timberlake started 2013 with a lot of promise. His first album since 2006, The 20/20 Experience, debuted at #1 and was hailed by critics. He had a comeback show with Jay Z on the eve of the Super Bowl, hosted a week-long stint on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon known as Timberweek – five nights of quality sketch comedy and viral videos – all leading up to the release of the biggest album of his career in March. He hosted SNL for the fifth time, sang for the president, even reunited with ‘N Sync on stage for the VMAs. The first seven months of 2013 were golden.

Then, Justin starred in Runner Runner, a flop of a movie that came out in early October. The film sparked a scathing article by Variety, telling the singer to give up on Hollywood or, to at least stick to cameo roles, like other musicians have successfully done. At the same time, part 2 of The 20/20 Experience was released to mediocre reviews, with Billboard saying that Timberlake he should have “left part 2 at home.” The mixed reviews shook Timberlake and left him angry. Even though he was named “Man of the Year” by GQ, Timberlake spends much of the magazine’s article griping about the bad reviews and admitting that he’s “not cut out for that sort of criticism.” He goes on to say that no, he doesn’t consider himself “cool,” citing that he’s too passionate to be “cool”:

"Don't be cool. Be passionate. Be dedicated. Be tenacious. Be uncompromising. Be pissed. Be happy." – @jtimberlake: http://t.co/yRFiaqjbrw

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) November 17, 2013

Timberlake, who has been in the spotlight since he starred in the Mickey Mouse Club in 1993, has seen mostly favorable reviews in his 20 year career. However, could it be that after the long absence from the spotlight, we’ve seen too much Timberlake this year? Is there a threshold we’ve reached? Instead of making reaction videos urging Justin to return to music, it’s finally the time to tell him no? We want to love Timberlake, we really do, but we can’t love everything he touches.

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