VEVOJustin Timberlake is now hoping that his tune "Take Back the Night" gets people thinking in a number of ways.
The hitmaker said in a statement today that he was only recently made aware that Take Back the Night is also the name of a nearly 40-year-old international support group for victims of sexual violence.
"Upon the release of my new single 'Take Back The Night,' I was made aware of an organization of the same name called The Take Back The Night Foundation," he said in a statement released to E! News. "I wanted to take this opportunity to let all know that neither my song nor its lyrics have any association with the organization."
But, J.T. suggests, perhaps now at least the name of his song can contribute to the conversation, even though the substance of his "Take Back the Night," the first single off the second volume of The 20/20 Experience, is pure pop-R&B, dance-club ready confection.
"As I've learned more about The Take Back The Night Foundation, I'm moved by its efforts to stop violence against women, create safe communities and encourage respectful relationships for women—something we all should rally around," Timberlake continued. "It is my hope that this coincidence will bring more awareness to this cause."
Following the release of Timberlake's tune on Friday, it was TBNT that first notified his camp that they weren't pleased by the "coincidence."
"Everyone at Take Back the Night is really shocked, because normally, we get asked when people want to use the name," foundation executive director Katherine Koestner told Radar Online last week. "Normally entities as large as Justin Timberlake do very kind and thoughtful things to support our cause."
"The lyrics are definitely very sexual and not at all clearly anti-sexual violence," she added. "‘Use me,' for example, is not a great phrase for anyone affiliated with the organization...We tried to contact him through his website and got no answer. Then we sent him a letter Friday from our legal counsel saying ‘You used our name without our permission.'"
"His legal agent got back to us and said they're sorry," Koestner said. "His agent said ‘Justin's a good guy! He's a family man!' They claimed he'd never heard of us before he wrote that song."