June 2002

June 29, 2002 - Nelly spoke with CDNow.com's Allison Stewart on what approach he had on getting *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake's support on 'Work It', a track on his new album 'Nellyville'. "The thing is, for me, I was trying to keep Justin realistic and believable," Nelly explained. "I don't want Justin singing about my hood or about diamond rings and chains and cars because that wouldn't be believable. I wanted something he and I could feel comfortable with, and what better than girls?" Read more.

June 29, 2002 - The New York Daily News reports Ibrahim Duarte of Entertainment Management Services Inc. has filed suit against *NSYNC claiming the group owes him $155,415 in salary and expenses. Duarte served as the group's tour manager between February 1999 and December 2000 but received only some of the pay they agreed on. Read more.

June 28, 2002 - Melinda's Corner was updated on *NSYNC's official website today with news on which stars will be attending Challenge For The Children IV. Amongst those on the lineup are Brian McKnight, Shannon Elizabeth, Johnny Wright, Christina Milian, Jermaine Dupri, Usher, and more. In addition, Triple Image, 3rd Faze, 3rd Storee, and Nelly are going to be performing. Read more.

June 28, 2002 - Dees Sleaze reports *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake was spotted with a Britney Spears look-alike two nights ago at Spa in New York. Gawkers were straining to look if it was really Britney, but after one got a close look, realized it wasn't her. Listen to the Thursday report here.

June 28, 2002 - US Weekly reports *NSYNC star Joey Fatone recently crashed a high school prom after coming across a crowd of partiers. "He was strolling by the Supper Club at around 1:15am, saw all these limos outside and wanted to see what was going on," revealed a source. Fatone partied with the 1,400 teenagers until 2:30 a.m. Read more.

June 28, 2002 - The Tennessean reports Meredith Edwards and *NSYNC star Lance Bass have parted ways. Edwards was the first management project for Bass and grew frustrated after she became known as "that girl discovered by Lance Bass." Meredith calls the split a friendly one, ''it was the best thing I could've done for my career and my life at this point.'' Read more.

June 26, 2002 -  Nelly recently spoke with Latoya Hunter about his 'Nellyville' collaboration with *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake on the track 'Work It'. "Dirty is a cool dude," Nelly said of Justin. "I had been meeting dirty and (the rest of *NSYNC) around award shows and different s--- like that, (so when it came time to record the song) it wasn't like Nelly and Justin, it was like Cornell and Justin." Read more.

June 25, 2002 - Extra TV caught up with Joey Fatone Sr. last Friday and profiled his Not So Boy Band (aka NSB2). Joey Jr. told Extra, "He doesn't get away with as much [touring on the road with *NSYNC], that's all there is to it. I have to watch out for him." As for Senior, he said, "I'm sort of a semi-retired pop singer who dances and gives it his best." Watch the video clip here.

June 25, 2002 - Timbaland tells the New York Daily News that "The boy band thing is over." Still, he has high hopes for *NSYNC's centerpiece Justin Timberlake. "Justin's album is too crazy," he said. "The stuff I did for him is Michael Jackson all over again." Timbaland is producing Justin's debut solo effort.

June 25, 2002 - In an interview with the BBC, Alesha of Mis-Teeq says Justin Timberlake and Method Man would be two people she'd most want to work with. Read more.

June 25, 2002 - The Sun reports Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC has broken his wrist after falling over in a charity baseball match – and is now bored stiff. He moaned, "It has affected everything I love to do. No motorcycles, no golf and I don’t know what I’m going to do now I can’t play video games."

June 25, 2002 - A fan on the LiveDaily.com *NSYNC forum reports Joey Fatone was in attendance at Monday's Korn concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Salar_ny writes, "I was talking to an acquaintance when I saw him walk by, and called him over to have a word or two (we've met before). It was a very brief chat because Korn was about to go onstage, but he was as nice as can be. I don't remember too much of what we said (I tend to get a little flustered when I'm around any of the guys), but OMG it was so cool to see him!"

June 24, 2002 - Dozens of fans from the JJB board bombarded popdirt.com with reports that Britney Spears had rebounded from her Justin Timberlake romance with fellow *NSYNC'er JC Chasez. The incident started after JayneOC posted in one of her 29,525 posts, "Someone start a JC/Britney rumor. Let's see if MTV and popdirt pick it up." Read more.

June 23, 2002 - NSYNC members Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick (who appears to have his thumb in a cast) were amongst the stars at Mohegan Sun for Dan Aykroyd's Birthday Party on Friday in Uncasville, Connecticut. Others attending the bash were Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and of course Dan Aykroyd. Check out the pictures from the event here.

June 22, 2002 - Nelly's new single featuring *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake has been getting some radio airplay and has found its way onto the internet. The track is on Nelly's new album 'Nellyville' due out next Tuesday (June 25th). Download the 'Work It' track here.

June 22, 2002 - US Weekly reports Britney Spears has been having trouble dealing with her break-up to Justin Timberlake and his dating Jenna Dewan. An insider said, "Britney has been writing three songs, and each of them is because of [Justin and Jenna]." As for Timberlake, he is reportedly recording a song called 'Move Past You' for his solo debut. His label denied that the *NSYNC star is writing a song with that title though.

June 22, 2002 - NSYNC star JC Chasez took time to chat with David John Farinella of Launch.com. JC addressed the group members taking some time to themselves to work on individual projects before teaming back together. "We kind of always reinvent ourselves, but now I think we're in a position where--after cranking out five albums in the last four years, one being a European album--we're going to push ourselves a little bit more," he says. "We're giving our ears a break from ourselves, so we can step out and be creative. The whole idea behind it is that we're each going to go out and listen to different things and write with different people, so that when we come back we have this melting pot and it becomes this whole new thing." Read more.

June 22, 2002 - Popdirt.com's latest poll asking 'For albums expected out later this year, which album will sell more copies in its first week?' had over 5,700 votes cast and topping the list was the Backstreet Boys, who got just under 28%. That was enough to beat out *NSYNC rival Justin Timberlake, who got 23.7%, while O-Town got 18.5% and Christina Aguilera nabbed 12.7%. Trailing everyone was Aaron Carter, who only got .37% of the vote. Read more on the totals here.

June 20, 2002 - MTV News reports that during Usher's big New York's Pier 59 Studios Tuesday night to celebrate the 5 million copies of '8701' being sold, the star admitted to accepting offers from Fat Joe and LL Cool J for collaborations, and that he's also been talking to *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake about doing a duet on his solo debut.

June 20, 2002 - Joey Fatone of *NSYNC insisted to the Orlando Sentinel on Monday that he and longtime girlfriend Kelly Baldwin are not married. Joey said, "I didn't get married yet. I'm not even engaged yet. It's no secret that I've been dating my girlfriend Kelly for nine years. I have a daughter, and I've been raising my daughter. We haven't really had time to plan for a marriage, but probably later on down the line there will be one." He said that the rumors started accelerating after the couple's attendance at an American Film Institute event for Tom Hanks. "We had on friendship rings, and next thing I know I'm getting calls from people in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles," he said. "My mom called and asked how the wedding went." Read more.

June 20, 2002 - The National Enquirer has more details on the Justin Timberlake hook-up with Christina Aguilera at Hollywood hangout Joseph's on June 3rd. Britney Spears had went to the club to keep an eye on her former boyfriend hoping to rekindle their romance, but Justin was cold towards her the entire night. According to a source, "At one point, Justin got up and headed for the bathroom and ran into Christina, looking great in ghetto chic. He was overjoyed to see her, and they hugged, kissed, and talked animatedly. Now that Justin is back on the dating circuit, he looked at Christina in a whole new way." Read more.

June 20, 2002 - Jeannette Walls of MSNBC reports a source on Britney Spears' current tour says the singer is in a "deep funk" after her breakup with *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake. The source said, "She has been really depressed due to the breakup and just wants this tour to be over. There were even points during the show when she would not bother to lip-sync to the track the audience was hearing... as if she did not even care." The source also reports Spears' handlers are upset over the fact that she hasn't been interacting with fans more on the current tour. Read more.

June 20, 2002 - HitsDailyDouble.com is asking whether the recently acquired Jive will claim rights to the already-recorded and highly touted album from *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake.

June 18, 2002 - Extra TV has a video clip posted showing off the new restaurant Britney Spears will be opening next week in New York. Co-owner Bobby Ochs provided the tour and revealed amongst the several celebrity guests invited is Spears' former *NSYNC boyfriend. "I did take a peek at Britney's personal invitation list. Justin Timberlake was on the list," he said. Watch the video here.

June 18, 2002 - Britney Spears spoke with The Sun about her breakup with *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake. Britney admits, "I’m still hurting but I am trying to see it as an experience." As for whether she's moved on yet to dating other men, Britney revealed, "I haven’t really dated anyone since Justin. I am the type of person who can’t go from a serious relationship and then just start dating someone else straight away." When asked who she might be interested in dating, Britney giggled, "Hugh Grant is so cute!" Read more. Note: Something tells me The Sun just lifted this interview from InStyle ... Much of the reported comments are identical.

June 18, 2002 - alwaysbsb writes "MTV News reports Raphael Saadiq says he hopes to bring his acclaimed writing and production skills to the new Erykah Badu and Justin Timberlake albums (he and the *NSYNC-er have talked about working together). Read more."

June 16, 2002 - Justin Timberlake is one of People magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors. Check out what they had to say about him here.

June 16, 2002 - TeenHollywood.com reports *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake is offering love advice. Justin said, "To have a relationship with someone, there are three elements that are the biggest things in the world - love, trust and communication." Read more.

June 16, 2002 - Some photos of *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake posing with a couple of fans in New York City earlier this week have been posted. Check them out here.

June 15, 2002 - Howard Stern was talking on his radio show this morning wondering if Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were back together. He said he's heard that Justin is so upset that they broke up that he can't even say the word ''break-up.'' Howard figures that he's upset that he didn't get to bang her in the two years they were together and he knows that the next guy she gets will probably bang her like crazy. Howard said he knew a guy that had a similar thing happen to him. He worked a girl for two years, they broke up and the next guy the chick got was banging her like crazy.

June 15, 2002 - According to a LiveDaily.com posting, Britney Spears is featured in the new InStyle magazine, where mother Lynne talked about the stormy relationship between her daughter and *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake. Lynne said of the tabloid coverage devoted to the pair, "Actually I think the tabloids are making Justin out to be the dirty dawg in all this. So that's good." *NSYNC fans aren't taking the snide remark well. Read more.

June 15, 2002 - FHM's July issue talks with Funkmaster Flex about his upcoming second annual celebrity car show at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey on August 3rd. With names like Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, Busta Rhymes and Wyclef Jean amongst the celebs on the lineup, the magazine asked what's up with *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake being there. Flex said, "Justin's got a Prowler, a Porsche, an Audi TT, an Escalade, a Benz convertible, a Beemer and a Viper. And he's got bikes too. He's bringing two Harleys, a Honda CCR, and a Buell."

June 14, 2002 - The Sun reports Britney Spears recently went clubbing at Joseph's in Los Angeles but her stay was short lived. When she walked in, she saw rival Christina Aguilera and her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC flirting with each other. Britney left in "floods of tears" after seeing the two.

June 14, 2002 -  MTV News reports that *NSYNC's Joey Fatone denied reports today that he got got married to Kelly Baldwin.

June 14, 2002 - NSYNC rep Melinda Bell posted an update on the group's official website on Thursday. As for what each band member is up to she said, "Lance took a week off and is back in Russia training, testing, training. Justin is busy recording in different parts of the country with different producers, including LA, NYC, and Philly amongst others. Joey is promoting his movies, doing appearances and having auditions for various projects. Chris is also going around the country, he is doing it a different style. No planes for Chris. He has rented a luxury RV and is making his own course writing with different producers in NYC, Philly, Nashville, Buffalo amongst other cities. JC is writing with different producers in LA and working on his house." Check out the update here.

June 14, 2002 - WireImage.com has photos of *NSYNC's Joey Fatone and Kelly Baldwin at the 30th AFI Life Achievement Award - A Tribute to Tom Hanks in Hollywood on Wednesday. Check out the pictures from the Kodak Theatre event here.

June 14, 2002 - WireImage.com has photos of celebrities at Game 4 of the NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, New Jersey last night. Amongst the stars at the game were Jay-Z, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu of Korn, Snoop Dogg, *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake, Magic Johnson, Donald Trump, and more. Check out the pictures here. The site also has pictures of former NBA star Dennis Scott with Justin Timberlake outside of Serafina, perhaps celebrating the champion Lakers rout of the Nets here.

June 14, 2002 - Rush & Molloy at the New York Daily News spoke with a rep for *NSYNC on the report we got in earlier this week saying Joey Fatone had quietly wed Kelly Baldwin. The rep would not confirm or deny that Fatone is a married man, but you'd think a non-denial is an admission. Read more.

June 13, 2002 - NSYNC star Justin Timberlake appeared on Access Hollywood Wednesday where he kept silent on his recent breakup with Britney Spears. "As much as I'd love to sit here and tell you the whole story," he said. "It's way too long. I'm going to keep that story for myself." Read more.

June 13, 2002 - Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC phoned into MTV's Total Request Live on Wednesday. Justin talked about life as a bachelor, his upcoming solo album, and his foundation to help music education and its partnership with the American Music Conference. Carson seemed to get pretty bored with Justin's pitch that went on and on. They wrapped up by joking about Lance Bass and his journey to reach outerspace. Read here for a transcript.

June 13, 2002 - The Financial Times has more of a business-side perspective of the decision by Clive Calder of Zomba record group to cash in his company to Bertelsmann Music Group. Richard Waters writes, "The particular circumstances of the sale have little to do with the overall health of the music business. But the deal also points to the twin pressures that have left the record companies staggering: in the midst of a punishing cyclical downturn, secular forces have also been at work that have raised doubts about the industry's future shape." Read more.

June 13, 2002 - Launch.com reports *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake, TLC's T-Boz, and Angie Stone are among those who have expressed their support of Raphael Saadiq's debut solo album. Justin said of the former Tony Toni Tone and Lucy Pearl singer, "Raphael's got too much vibe. That explains why there are so many tracks on the record." Read more.

June 12, 2002 - The new People magazine has *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake opening up about his recent and very public breakup with Britney Spears. Timberlake said he can't even say the words "break up". He admits, "It hurts too bad to say it. You get to a point where you're crying yourself to sleep at night." As for all the public attention about the relationship, "I feel like I'm in the middle of a soap opera. I honestly know what it's like to have a broken heart now." As for the motivations for splitting, Justin's mother Lynn Harless explained, "You can't have a real relationship when you see each other only two days a month." Read more.

June 12, 2002 - The New York Post reports *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake partied at the China Club in New York with Robert Horry and Mitch Richmond of the Los Angeles Lakers in between games against the New Jersey Nets on Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Others partying with the NBA Finals dominating pair were Saturday Night Live's Jimmy Fallon and former N.Y. Giant Rodney Hampton.

June 12, 2002 - Justin Timberlake has joined with the American Music Conference to champion the cause of music education for every student. The partnership will kick off Wednesday, June 12 when Timberlake, who created The Justin Timberlake Foundation to promote this goal, is scheduled to make a special phone appearance on MTV's Total Request Live to encourage viewers to get involved in music education. Read the entire press release, which curiously makes no mention of Timberlake as a member of *NSYNC, here.

June 12, 2002 - Zomba, the parent company of Jive Records, said that it had exercised an option to sell the remainder of the music group to Bertelsmann (BMG) in a deal the German media group said in its recent annual report would be worth around $3 billion. Amongst the artists signed under Zomba are Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton, and Mystikal. Read more.

June 12, 2002 - NSYNC star Lance Bass sidelined his quest to reach outerspace with a quest to get down the pants of Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams. The Mirror reports the two were spotted bumping and grinding until 4:30 a.m. after the Destiny's Child concert in London at CC Club on Saturday. Michelle tried to hide her identity by pulling a hat over her face, while bandmates Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland looked on.

June 12, 2002 - Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn told viewers that *NSYNC star Joey Fatone would be on the show later this week. He's on Wednesday night's show.

June 12, 2002 - Popdirt.com's latest poll asks for  albums expected out later this year, which album will sell more copies in its first week? You can vote for Justin Timberlake here.

June 11, 2002 - The list of videos up for nomination in the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards in the Viewer's Choice category have been posted. Included in the pop genre are *NSYNC's 'Gone', Shakira's 'Underneath Your Clothes', Michelle Branch's 'Everywhere', Vanessa Carlton's 'A Thousand Miles', and Jennifer Lopez featuring Nas 'It's Gonna Be Alright'. Vote for your favorite here.

June 11, 2002 - Even though it doesn't appear to be listed anywhere, Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn told viewers that *NSYNC star Joey Fatone would be on the show later this week. He didn't say which day though.

June 11, 2002 - Anonymous writes "According to this post, *NSYNC star JC Chasez is going to London this month to shoot Armani ads and is going to be a spokesmodel for them."

June 10, 2002 - NSYNC's Joey Fatone will be making an appearance on Regis and Kelly Friday, June 14, 2002. Fellow singer Anastacia is also scheduled to appear.

June 10, 2002 - Chris Macias of the Sacremento Bee spoke with set designer/art director Jim Day ahead of Monday's Britney Spears concert at the Arco Arena. Day and Steven Cohen help design the stage used by Spears on this tour and has masterminded several other tours including *NSYNC's. "Every time you're talking about an *NSYNC or Britney Spears tour, it's like taking a Broadway show out on the road," Day says. "It might take up to 20 trucks to haul the sets around. *NSYNC and Britney -- their training was with Disney, so they're performers and can sing and dance at the same time. I'm an older rock 'n' roll kind of guy, but the kids seem to love it." Read more.

June 10, 2002 - Getty Images has pictures of *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake and his mother attending the WBC/IBF Heavyweight Championship bout between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson on Saturday at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. No sign of Britney Spears, who also was reported to be in town, on his arm though. Check out the pictures here.

June 9, 2002 - NSYNC star Justin Timberlake finally broke his silence about his secretive solo project due to drop later this year. Timberlake tells Teen People, "I'm excited about it. Everyone (in *NSYNC) is very supportive. Everyone is going to participate as much as they want to."

June 8, 2002 - The Sun has a different take on why Britney Spears re-installed the 14-carat toilet seat. A pal revealed, "She’s over Justin now. She thinks he treated her badly and there’s only one place for him. Now she can laugh at him whenever she takes a pee."

June 8, 2002 - Peoplenews.com reports Britney Spears and *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake are an item again after Britney took $300 massage classes in a bid to fend off Jenna Dewan, the dancer who Timberlake is rumored to have been having an affair with. "Massage can be so sexy, and I'm learning to give a good one," Britney reportedly told a pal.

June 8, 2002 - US Weekly reports Britney Spears and *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake have still be keeping in touch, but their phone conversations end in heartbreak for Britney. A source said, "They do talk every now and then via phone, but every time they end up in a huge fight and Britney ends up crying. She asked whether he was still seeing [dancer Jenna Dewan], and he told her that he was, and that they were happy with their relationship." Britney is said to be unhappy with the news, since she hasn't been dating anyone herself while on the 'Dream Within a Dream' tour.

June 7, 2002 - Globe magazine reports Britney Spears has re-installed her custom-made toilet seats trimmed in 14-carat gold and bearing pictures of *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake on the lid now that the pair have supposedly gotten back together. During their split, she had the seats removed because she couldn't bear to look at them, according to a pal.

June 6, 2002 - Popdirt.com's latest poll asking if you think Russia will allow Lance Bass to take part in their Soyuz rocket launch later this year had the largest response wanting to help pay for a one-way ticket for the *NSYNC star to space. Next was 36.2% of the people wishing him well and noting the Russians would be $20 million richer because of it. 8.9% said the Russians wouldn't want the circus atmosphere the Lance reality based participation would bring, while 8.3% just wanted him to stay home and stick to helping out his *NSYNC bandmates put out a new album. Check out the entire results here.

June 6, 2002 - Star magazine reports *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake recently threw a party in the Hollywood Hills. His pal apparently hired three sexy strippers who bared all for Justin and his friends.

June 5, 2002 - Alan Boyle of MSNBC reports time may have run out on *NSYNC star Lance Bass' quest to reach outerspace. Russian news reports quote Russian Aviation and Space Agency spokesman Sergei Gorbunov as saying it’s already too late for a foreigner to get the third spot on the October station flight. "The train has left," he said in a report. Still, Destiny Productions David Krieff suggests "maybe we have a pretty good shot still" to make the flight. Read more.

June 2, 2002 - Getty Images has photos of *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake arriving for the NBA playoff game between the L.A. Lakers and the Sacramento Kings at the Staples Centre on Friday. Check them out here. 

June 2, 2002 - RadioShack put out a press release Friday announcing their support for *NSYNC star Lance Bass and "AstroMom" Lori Garver in both their efforts to fly to the International Space Station. "Lori and Lance now are coordinating their efforts to blast off to the space station on a Russian Soyuz rocket, which delivers a fresh lifeboat to the ISS every six months," said Jim McDonald, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for RadioShack Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas. "RadioShack made history last year by filming the first TV commercial on the space station, showing a Father's Day gift from RadioShack being delivered to cosmonaut-dad Yuri Usachev." Read more.

June 2, 2002 - 'The Reel *NSYNC', a behind-the-scenes film, shot by Joey Fatone, has just been released on DVD/VHS for $19.95 through nsynchomevideo.com.

June 1, 2002 - KNTV has a video clip of *NSYNC star Lance Bass in Russia as he undergoes tests in preparation for his planned space mission. Afterwards, Bass addresses reporters. Check out the clip here.

June 1, 2002 - The latest chapter in *NSYNC star Lance Bass' dream to visit outerspace has him at a press conference in Moscow on Friday discussing the status of the situation following his battery of tests at Russia's Star City. Lance assured, "We'll have a deal in place within two weeks." He did admit, "I have not had a formal proposal. That's what we're waiting on. Nothing is certain, I think, with any mission, up to a week before it goes up, before they choose the final crew." Read more. Also, check out press conference photos of Lance courtesy Getty Images.