As much as Justin and Kiki wanted to stay in hiding, away from any more stressful situations. They both knew that now they were back in the real world it was only a matter of time until someone found them out. So they waited as long as possible to tell the truth and give themselves a little time to enjoy the peace. Justin especially wanted some time bonding with Cheyenne, minus any drama or foreboding tragedy hanging over their heads. Not to mention he wanted to actually enjoy his 25th birthday without the media hound him down.
For their week long reprieve, Justin spent most of his time hanging out over at Kiki’s since she had yet to go back to work either. It gave him the chance to start learning some of Cheyenne’s routine, something he would eventually need to know how to navigate by himself. Considering the more pressing matter ahead, he and Kiki still hadn’t talked about how they were going to raise Cheyenne together, but in separate homes. Right now they were enjoying their time together and Kiki was being very open about letting him see Cheyenne whenever he wanted, even letting him crash in her guest room a couple of nights.
In fact, Justin spent his birthday afternoon with them. At the condo, Kiki helped Cheyenne make him some birthday cupcakes and they ordered some take out for lunch. It may have been a big milestone birthday “ 25 “ but Justin chose to play it low key. After spending the afternoon with the girls, he went out to dinner with his parents, Cameron and Trace. It ended up being one of his best birthdays, especially the time he spent with Kiki and Cheyenne.
No matter how much of a good time they were having, the reality of the situation was always in the back of their minds. Particularly when they had to talk a little shop with Johnny in the middle of their pseudo vacation. Meeting up at Justin’s house, he and Johnny let Kiki in on the plan to reveal their secret that they had been strategizing for some time now. While listening to the plan, to her surprise, Kiki came to find that Justin was risking a lot of his career, in the very near future, with his second album slated to be released in the fall.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t think it would matter to you.”
“Oh come on.” She initially scoffed in offense, but then relented. “Ok so back then it wouldn’t have been high up on my list of thing I care about. But now, this is very exciting. I mean it’s kind of been awhile for you hasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” He had a big smile on his face and Kiki could clearly see how anxious he was to get his music back out there. “You gonna buy it?”
“No.” She deadpanned and he frowned. “But I’d happily accept a free copy.” He playfully glared as she cheesed at him and Johnny chuckled at their banter.
As the discussion continued Kiki was again, honestly surprised to find out that the possible fall of Justin’s career was the last of his worries. His main concern was that their story, the truth, was told. With what he and Johnny laid out to her, she couldn’t argue that it wasn’t their best option and if she was opposed to any of their ideas, they were all ears. This plan did affect her head on, but more importantly it affected her child. Without a doubt she had just as much say and was definitely going to be included in the big meeting almost a week later.
On the day of, Justin and Kiki had met up in his office at WEG before the meeting started, just to gear themselves up. And in the meantime Johnny was upstairs filling in everyone called to the meeting about the purpose of their gathering. Knowing his client’s temper, he thought it would be better to let them know in Justin’s absence so they could spew whatever anger and complaints that they had without a massive argument starting. As is a disagreement was bound to happen, but if Justin was there for the immediate response to the impact, it would only set him off and he’d end up saying something he shouldn’t. Johnny wanted to keep the damage at a minimum. They were about to go head to head with executives from Jive who, in some respects, held the future of his career in their hands, but Justin was confident that things would go his way and his way only.
“I am having some serious flashbacks in this building.” Kiki said as she reluctantly sat on his couch. The same couch she sat on three years ago.
Justin grunted and leaned to the side of his computer monitor, where he was checking his schedule, to see her. “Not very good memories in this room huh?”
One side of her lip curled up in a half frown. “No, not really, but I saw the hallway towards the studios when I came in.” She was smiling now. “Some pretty good memories there.”
Justin’s frown had turned upside down too and he asked, keeping to the positive side of the subject. “Besides Alex, do you talk to anyone from the tour?”
“Oh yeah. I know as soon as we spill the beans, Tori, Sarah, and Gina are gonna be blowing up my phone. Especially Gina “ I can just hear her now: You got pregnant by that fuckin’ asshole.” They both laughed, each vividly picturing the fiery Bronx girl going off.
“God she hated me after you left. All the girls did.”
Kiki shrugged and smirked arrogantly. “They were my girls and you deserved it.”
“I know. I know.” Think back on the things he had done to her, Justin realized he had yet to tell her. “I’m sorry that I-”
“It’s in the past.” Kiki abruptly interrupted him, a hard tone of finality in her voice. She did not want to delve that deep into the past.
Justin was startled at how quickly she deflected that subject. He obvious pushed the wrong button so, albeit disappointedly, he let it be. Maybe one day they could have a serious talk about their checkered history, but he guessed right now it wasn’t time to go there.
In the wake of bringing up the apparently taboo topic, an awkward silence was left in the room. It was starting to get stifling so Kiki started talking again and got up from the couch to pace the office.
“So is Johnny gonna call us or what?”
“Uh we’re meeting in one of the conference room upstairs. We probably could head up now.” Johnny asked him to wait at least 15 minutes after the meeting started to come and join them. Justin could only imagine the bitching and moaning that was going on up there and he couldn’t wait to step in and set them straight. Like everything else in his life, he was determined to get what he wanted, this instance wasn’t any different.
“Oh good.” Right about now, Kiki was more than ready to have a bunch of industry big wigs breathing down her neck if it meant she could get out of this room.
She collected her purse from Justin’s desktop while he shut down his computer. When he was finished he stood up with a groan.
“I gotta remember to stay cool, make sure I don’t lose it cause I’m sure one of those assholes are going to say some shit to piss me off.”
“Well technically they have to do what you want right?”
“Technically they don’t. Anything could happen.” He told her honestly. There were no guarantees that things would go as they planned. “Come on. Whatever’s going to happen let’s get it over with.” He grabbed her hand and with their fingers intertwined they went to face the judge and jury together.
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A couple of floors up, Justin and Kiki sat next to each other at a long conference table also occupied by Johnny, Justin publicist Sonja, his two lawyers, and two execs from Jive. The meeting started with a brief introduction between Kiki and those who didn’t know her. Sonja and the lawyers may not have remembered her, but she remember them and internally Kiki laughed at the irony. The last time she saw the three of them, she was signing an agreement draw up by the legal team that basically said she would not end up right where she was at the moment. Hopefully they wouldn’t bring up that little breach of contract.
Seconds after Kiki’s introduction, the execs pounced. They started ranting about how Justin might as well kiss his career goodbye because there was no way they could spin him being a deadbeat dad.
“No offense Sonja, but you’d have to work a fuckin’ miracle to pull that off.”
“Good thing I plan on telling the whole truth. She won’t have to spin anything.” Justin defended.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” The second exec spoke up while the other one gapped. “That’s career suicide and considering you have an album coming out at the end of this year, that doesn’t bode well with us. And certainly not for yourself seeing as you could end up owing us a shit load of money if the album tanks.” He smirked after delivering the not so veiled threat thinking that he’d scare Justin into compliance.
Too bad Justin was ready to face anything and wasn’t afraid of any of the possible consequences. Furthermore he wasn’t keen on being threatened.
“You’re right, but who’s to say I won’t bounce back from this like I have every other publicity storm that I’ve been involved in? My fans love me, they tend to forgive me anything.”
Kiki rolled her eyes at his arrogance even though it was somewhat true. Justin seemed to have the ability to come out smelling like roses every time. Hopefully that superpower of his worked this time too.
“The question is, are you willing to risk losing your best artist should Jive choose not to back me up when this drops? I’m telling you right now, if you turns on me and everything works out fine. I’ll make a dud album that will still sell “ why? Well...” Again that arrogance flared in a cocky chuckle, as he proclaimed. “Because I’m Justin Timberlake.” The two execs were seething as they listened to his proposal that was starting to look more daunting than theirs. “My record deal with your label will be satisfied, I won’t resign and some other label will be ready and waiting to roll out the red carper for me. Hell I might even start my own label and you can guarantee it won’t have any affiliation with Jive.” Justin smuggled sat back just as they had during their attempt at intimidation. “How’s that sound?”
The execs were both silent as they shared uneasy looks. Justin had called their bluff and they were now painted into a corner. There was a very good chance that his popularity could survive this blow and Jive was not willing to lose one of their bests. One more glance and a head nod before they faced Justin for surrender. “Okay what’s the plan?”
Almost unnoticeably, Johnny smirked with pride in the way Justin single handedly called the shots over his career and life to his label. He had tried to warn them that Justin was coming into this meeting with an all or nothing approach. They didn’t listen and now they were stuck following, not leading.
The meeting was now in the hands of Justin’s management team who always did what was in his best interest according to what he wanted.
“So the plan goes like this…” Johnny started discussing how they were going to handle this admission, the execs quietly listening, but not speaking.
Management agreed that the plan to tell the truth themselves, before someone else did it for them and twisted the facts, was the best course of action. They planned to release the story to People, one of the few entertainment publications that printed the closest thing to the truth. Sonja agreed that it was a good idea to set up a small photo shoot to provide the magazine with pictures of Cheyenne and Kiki to help curb some of the paparazzi that would be swarming them. Kiki suggested, for Cheyenne as well as her own comfort, to use Sage who not only excelled in his craft, but was someone they knew and trusted. Per agreement with her, Justin gave Sonja his contact information to set the shoot up.
With a game plan in place, Johnny asked Justin and Kiki one last time if this was what they really wanted to do. He reminded them that there would be a lot of backlash from telling this secret. He was very concerned that Kiki, who wasn’t used to media attention, would buckle under the pressure. She was quick to set him straight on that.
“Johnny I will be fine. I have nothing to hide, no embarrassing secrets about me out there and I have thick skin. I can handle whatever lies that I’m sure people will make up about me because honesty “ I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of me, especially a bunch of people who don’t even know me.” The curt tone in her voice made Justin grin. There was that sassiness about her that he loved. “My family and friends know the truth and who I really am. Everyone else can kiss my ass to be frank.” Some eyebrows rose at that while Johnny chuckled at her directness and her strong self confidence. The more she talked, the more impressed he was by her. He could see this girl was the tough, no bullshit type and would do fine being thrown into the lion’s pit. He was relieved to know that he didn’t have to worry about her answering questions that she shouldn’t or telling things that were to be kept under wraps. It only made him like her even more.
“My main concern is Cheyenne. I don’t want her to be painted as some unfortunate mistake. She is not a mistake.” Kiki liked to think of Cheyenne as an unexpected surprise and she’d be damned if she let anyone label her baby as anything negative to the contrary.
Justin’s lawyers spoke up then to assure her that they’d be vigilant in protecting Cheyenne’s, hers and Justin’s integrity in any news outlets regarding them.
With that issue settled the next one was discussed “ Justin’s career. They had no control over how people responded to the news. They could only roll with the punches and that meant continuing with the schedule for the album’s promotion and release at the approximate dates. The execs jumped back into the conversation at that with a suggestion to push the album release back.
“I mean you’ve been out of work for two months now. You have to be behind schedule. Pushing back the date will give you time to actually finish the album and it’ll give us time to clean up this publicity nightmare.”
Justin glared at their negativity, his anger level rising again and he clearly stated. “Absolutely not. First off, I was ahead of schedule before I took the time to be by my daughter’s side so my work will be done in time.” He had been a veritable workaholic before he was reunited with Cheyenne. His album was far enough into the production stage and he already had the studio time he needed to finish rescheduled with Tim. “And I will not push the release date back and make this look like I confessed to save my ass. This is about my life! About being a father to my daughter, everything else is secondary.” Justin had sat up in his chair as he fumed and Kiki grabbed his arm, holding him back. He looked like he was seconds away from jumping over the table to strangle them. “The plan stays as is.”
And that was the last time either execs spoke, let along contest anything. The meeting ended with a solid plan in the making and now all they could do was to wait to see where the chips fell.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Only days after the meeting, Kiki, Justin and Cheyenne met up with Sage at his studio for the shoot. Just as they expected he created a very easy going, fun atmosphere for them and Cheyenne had a ball playing with all the different props. The end product was a portfolio of very beautiful and touching photos for the magazine to choose from, especially the ones with Justin and Cheyenne. The next day with an oblivious Cheyenne, and an anxious Justin and Kiki waiting, People’s chief editor arrived at Justin’s house, a comfortable neutral territory, and the interview commenced. The whole process happened at such a fast pace that the next thing anyone knew, the new issue of People with a front cover picture of Justin’s contemplative profile and the tasteful headline of A Father’s Apology underneath, hit the stands.
In no time at all, the news about the content of the article spread like wildfire. It was one of the top entertainment stories on every news outlet nationwide and abroad, the internet was flooded with searches, blogs and message board posts about the news. And the paparazzi “ they were like a pack of sharks smelling a drop of blood in the water, they attacked. Justin’s house, Kiki’s condominium and even Key West had packs of them camping out waiting to get as many pictures as they could at any cost.
Justin hated it, but was fairly used to it so he knew how to live his life as best as possible around the madness. Kiki wasn’t so accustom, but she was smart, level headed and resilient and used it to her advantage. She wasn’t buckling under the pressure and she didn’t let them hinder her. Everyday she woke up and conducted her life like it was any ordinary day. Now that she was back to work, each morning she packed herself and Cheyenne into her car, calmly maneuvered through the crowd of photographers waiting at the exit of her condo’s garage and then through the streets of Santa Monica to the club. Once she got there it was even easier to manage her day, paparazzi free.
Since there was a child care center on the premises when she called the police during the first few days of their invasion, they were quick to remove the photographers permanently, with an injunction, from the club’s property. Luckily she had loyal members so they didn’t abandon the club after the mass of reporters and photographers intially surrounded Key West. Some fans of Justin went a step further and came into the club looking for Justin or to get a look at her and Cheyenne. It was an annoyance, but since a day pass for admission into the gym cost 12 dollars, their presence ended up being good for business.
Cheyenne had become a fascination for Hollywood’s gossip fanatics. Entertainment shows gushed over how cute and adorable she was in the magazine photos “ which had only slightly curbed the public’s appetite for more “ and how courageous she was to survive leukemia. Everyone wanted a peek at her, but for the time being with such overwhelming attention on them, Kiki and Justin had taken to covering her up with a blanket and putting an iPod on her when they were out around town. It put her at ease with all the people staring at her, the noise around them and the lights from the cameras flashing in her face. Fortunately and comically, whenever she was covered up, she saw it as a big game of peek-a-boo. Both her parents had been worried this all would traumatize her, but even in light of her age and her inability to really understand most of the drama around her, she was adjusting to her lack of anonymity well. After the experience she’d been through, Cheyenne proved that she was a very strong child and this craziness didn’t change anything.
Thankfully, the tabloids were respectful of her innocence in this whole situation and only talked about her in reference. But as expected they made up all kinds of stories about Kiki to which she usually got a good laugh out of with the girls. She’d been called a golddigger, a groupie, and if it hadn’t been for Justin being Cheyenne’s donor, Kiki knew they would have tacked on lying slut who didn’t even know who really fathered her child. Talk and radio shows talked about her, but Justin’s fans were the most vocal, either liking her or hating her.
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MTV.com Message Board:
Re: Justin’s Baby Mama:
KrazyKyrstal428
How convenient it is that she comes out of the woodworks when rumor has it, Justin’s working on his 2nd solo album and branching out into acting? She’s obviously a gold digger simply as that.
FarahVan!
I think she’s really pretty and she seems really nice despite all the media that’s basically invaded her normal life. Now KrazyKyrstal how exactly is she a gold digger? I heard she like owns her own business, a successful one at that and the last time I checked gold diggers usually don’t own their own businesses. I think you’re just jealous and I think Justin should dump Cameron and get back together w. Kiki (That’s her name right?) they make a cuter couple.
PBandJkiddo
What kind of business does she own?
callMEmrs.jt
I don’t know what some of you people are seeing, but she seems like a total bitch to me. There is nothing Kyrstal or anyone else needs to be jealous of. That woman is a nobody even though she walks around LA all uppity and shit. All she did was get herself pregnant to trap Justin! He better not fall for her scheming ass and he better watch his bank account.
QueenBeeDJ
I think she’s a home wrecker out to take Justin from Cameron. She should go back to wherever she came from and get her own damn man.
4EvaNSynced
Yes her name is Kiki and she owns her own a health club with a spa and a dance studio called Key West here in LA. My sister is a member there and when I’m home from school I go there with her sometimes. It’s a really nice place and whenever she’s at the front desk when we check in she’s always really nice. I like her.
Did anyone know she used to be a PCD? That is so cool. I totally disagree with certain delusional people on this board and I totally agree with FarahVan! - her and Justin do make a cuter couple. Sorry Cam :(
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Kiki had to change her phone number and make it unlisted because of all the phone calls she was receiving. She had gotten multiple offers to do her own interview, and she declined each one. The world didn’t need to know in depth details about her. The article told them all they needed to know, besides Justin was the famous one not her and she had no desire to be famous especially over this. When it became clear that Kiki wasn’t going to be so forthcoming with information about herself, the paparazzi became more aggressive in their pursuit for pictures and gossip about her.
After one particular incident Justin had to hire a bodyguard for her and Cheyenne.
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The girls had just finished up their chicas’ shopping day and were coming out of the mall when a group of photographers surrounded them. Maya, Marissa, and Tami form a protective circle around Kiki and Cheyenne and they pushed through the crowd to make a dash to the car. Caught so off guard Kiki didn’t get the chance to cover up Cheyenne and she started crying because she was so scared of the photographers stalking after them. That made Kiki livid. But she was sent off the deep end when one of the photographers crowded her so much that she almost fell.
“Hey, hey…HEY!!!” She screamed at him and grabbing the scope of the camera held in front of his face, she mushed him into a car. She didn’t hurt him, he was a rather large man after all, but it served its purpose and got him out of her way.
“That was assault Ms. Lewis.” He taunted her.
They finally reached the car and all the girls quickly got inside with the exception of Kiki. She passed Cheyenne over to Tami so she could buckle her in and closed the door, turning around to face off with the photohogs.
“You think that was assault? Then you go right ahead and press charges.” Despite all the flashes in her face, Kiki wasn’t fazed and stood her ground. She was more than ready to get into it physically with this guy if need be. Maya kept a baseball bat in her back seat “ she wouldn’t hesitate to use it. They had made the mistake of bring the mama bear out of her today. “If you think for one minute anyone will sympathize with you after you almost made me fall with my child in my arms then I will drive myself to the police station. You dumb fuck.” The guy couldn’t come back at her with anything. Harming a child was an offense that there was no explanation for and one that pissed people of big time when committed by those of his profession. “Listen, you can take as many pictures of us as you want, I can’t stop you, but you don’t have to be all up in our faces. My daughter could have gotten hurt because you won’t back off and that’s a line you do not cross. If it ever happens again I will do a lot worse than push you.”
Keeping his slight fear hidden and trying to save face with his colleagues, he taunted her again. “Is that a threat Ms. Lewis?”
“Absolutely.” She answered in a heart beat, climbed into the backseat of the car and shut the door in their faces. Maya had already started up the car and drove off without a concern for any one stand in their way. Having re-buckled Cheyenne up in her arms, Kiki sat in her seat consoling her, rocking and softly singing one of her bedtime songs. Even though her tears were reduced to sniffles, Kiki temper had no where’s near subsided. So close, she had been so close to hurting that prick. He was so lucky to have gotten off with just a shove and a threat. Let him go to the police, she wouldn’t deny what she did and she was not above making good on her threat. She would protest her child at all cost.
After a silent and tense car ride, the girls made it back to their meeting place, Kiki’s apartment. Cheyenne had thankfully fallen asleep and Kiki took her to the den to rest before returning to the living room where the girls had convened to quietly rant. Motherfucker, fuckin’ bastards and piece of shit was only a few of the insults being flung around by the four women. Maya, Marissa and Tami were just as heated as Kiki and just as ready to kick some ass. If she had so much as snapped her fingers in their direction back at the mall “ they would have jumped out of the car and been ready to throw some blows for their girl and especially their little Pixie. Those assholes, the one who tried to box Kiki in , in particular, got off easy.
Once they each had the chance to get their anger and frustration out and now that Kiki was safe at home, she let them know that they could go home. They protested, not thinking it was safe for her to be alone. Kiki was able to assure them that she was fine - her condo had great security “ and they left after she promised to call if anything happened. Kiki was positive she wouldn’t have to make that call, but there were a couple of other people that she did need to talk to immediately.
Like her father/lawyer. Kiki was in no way afraid of being charged with assault or any other trumped up charges. She had every right to defend herself and her child. Nevertheless, she’d most definitely need her legal representation to know what occurred. But first and foremost Justin needed to know. With the way news spread around this city, if she waited too long, someone else might tell him and it could only serve to piss him off even more. So when Kiki picked up her phone, he was the first person she called.
“Hey Justin. It’s me Kiki. Um I need to talk to you. Uh something happened. Cheyenne’s okay.” She was quick to clarify that. “But it’s important, so when you get this can you stop by my place? Thanks.”
Maybe a half an hour later, Justin was rapidly knocking at her door. As soon as she opened it, he came rushing in, looking rather panicked.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” In the middle of rattling off questions, he was panting, having dismissed the slow elevator and run up the three flight of stairs to her apartment. This came after he broke every speeding law from his house, across West LA. He had just finished up in the studio with Tim when he noticed he missed a call from Kiki. When he heard her message he made a quick exit, practically pushing Tim out of his house with a brief explanation, jumped into his car and hauled ass to the condo. He needed to know what happened to Kiki and Cheyenne, but right now he needed to catch his breath.
“Breathe first and then I’ll tell you. Sit down.”
Taking deep breathes, he rested on the back of her overstuffed chair, but shook his head, declining the offer to sit. “No I want you to tell me what happened now.”
Kiki could see a somewhat angry anxiety had taken him over and even though she knew that anger would only double once she told the story, she didn’t make him wait any longer.
By the time she was done talking the tips of his ears were red, his nostrils were flaring and his eyes had darkened. But worry marred his face too and when it came down to which emotion he expressed first, worry won out.
“God are you okay?” He asked desperately as he cupped her face and scanned her body for any signs of injury. God help every paparazzo in this city if he found one scratch on her or Cheyenne. “Where’s Pix?”
“She’s taking a nap.” Kiki gently moved his hands from her face and pulled him to the den so he could see her safely knocked out on the sofa. “She’s fine now and so am I.”
He looked over Cheyenne much like he had Kiki and then stormed out of the den. He was pissed. Kiki had seen him mad before, but not like this. Following him back down to the living room, she watched him pace the room with his hands behind his head, and just let him come down. She could hear him muttering angrily, much like the girls, motherfucker this and whoop their asses that. But suddenly he stopped mid pace and pointed at her.
“You’re getting a fuckin’ bodyguard!” He demanded and after today, she had no qualms about that.
The next day Justin came back to her apartment this time with Lonnie and an associate of his, Big Rick “ her and Cheyenne’s bodyguard until things settled down. During the little introduction and information meeting, Kiki was very pleased with the vibe she was getting from Rick and she learned that she could definitely trust him to keep her and Cheyenne safe. Or better yet keep everyone safe from Mama Bear Kiki.
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Safety in check, next thing Kiki had to deal with was the possible legal fallout from the incident. After talking with Justin, she called her father and Frederick assured her that she was within her right, she was protecting herself and her child. Besides she hadn’t caused any physical damage, they had no leg to stand on and that was probably why no charges were ever filed.
Of course the incident was plastered all over the press and Sonja complained, reminding Justin that they were supposed to stay low key until things cooled down. As politely as possible, he blew her off and told her to get over it. He felt Kiki had every right to confront them the way she did and he warned her that he would do they same, or worse, if the paparazzi, or anyone for that matter, approach him with his daughter in that manner.
Shockingly, Kiki had no problems with the paparazzi after that. Apparently they were smart and hadn’t taken her threat lightly and kept a respectable distance whenever they were following her around, with or without Cheyenne. She wasn’t a celebrity that had an image to protect. The only thing she was protecting was herself and her child, and she made it clear that she would do that by any means necessary without the least bit of concern over the consequences.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Justin dealt with most of the same things but on a whole other level, the criticism was much more intense. Expecting this kind of reaction he took it in stride and rolled with the punches. He had made it as clear as he could that he was well aware of the huge error he made and that he was honestly trying the make amends not just for himself, but more importantly for his daughter. Justin had said all he could to explain his actions, not necessarily looking for forgiveness, Kiki and Cheyenne were the only ones he could get that from, but looking for understanding. And he had a mix of people giving him that understanding and forgiving, or those who were angry and permanently stamped him as a deadbeat. Luckily his popularity didn’t seemed to take that much of a dive and his management team's and record label’s worry about the success of his new album was put to ease a little. Johnny actually attributed a lot of Justin’s pardon on Cheyenne and Kiki. Within the article, the editor had highlighted on how noticeably close Cheyenne and Justin were even during the short time that they spent talking in his home. Then there was the support Kiki showed for Justin and the fact that she of all people, the mother of his child, forgave him. The second chance Justin got with both women gave him a second chance with the public.
Of course drama had to be created when it started to look like the media was easing up on Justin. Questions about how Kiki and Cheyenne affected his relationship with Cameron started popping up. Some magazines said that Cameron left him because he had a child outside of the relationship, others said Cameron and Kiki had been in a cat fight over him. The truth was reported with statements from both Justin's and Cameron’s camp saying nothing had changed between them. They were still together, there was no relationship other than being parents between he and Kiki, and Cameron didn’t have a problem with Kiki or Justin’s child, that she was actually getting to know Cheyenne. Some believe it, some didn’t. It really didn’t matter just as long as people stopped harping on it.
Of course there was no bigger response to Justin and his confession than that from his fans. Either they continued to be loyal or they turned their backs on him.
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Access Hollywood:
“With the timing of Justin Timberlake’s announcement that he is the father of a 22 month old little girl that he admits to neglecting for the first year of her life, coinciding with the rumored release of his sophomore album some time this year. Critics are wondering if it was a smart move to make and question whether or not his career can survive his confession. So we decided to go out on the street to ask the fans, who have the ultimate say in his success, what they think of mega star Justin Timberlake now.” Billy Bush commentated.
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“Any respect I had for Justin Timberlake has been lost after this. Any man that turns his back on his child deserves to be rejected as well. I will not be supporting a person like that any longer.”
“I still love Justin. And it’s not like he committed a crime or anything. He made a bad choice and now he’s trying the fix it. If his child’s mother can forgive him for what he did, then his fans should too. I know I’ll still be a fan and buy his music because I mean his private life is no one’s business anyway. His abilities as an artist shouldn’t be judged by what he does in that private life.”
“Well I’m not a fan. My daughters are and I don’t have any plans of stopping them because of this. No.” The man shook his head. “The truth is, some people do right by their kids, some don’t. He slipped up, but he got back on track. He could have covered it up, thrown money at it, like all those other celebrities do, but he didn’t. I think he’s a pretty stand up guy. We all make mistakes right?”
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“It seems that even with this blow to Justin’s relatively spotless image, he still is managing to keep a strong following from his fans. Many have expressed their continued support for the star. Most agree that he made a mistake but is rectifying it. In recent weeks, Justin, his daughter, Cheyenne and even the mother of his child, Kiki Lewis, have been spotted all around LA together. Sources say that not only does Timberlake love being a father and that he and his daughter already share a very strong bond, but that he and Kiki have a great friendship that allows them to amicably raise their daughter together. It sounds like Justin’s not only working on making an album of the year, but being father of the year too. Good luck to him and back to you Nancy.”
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It wasn’t long before things died down and started to go back to something somewhat normal. Justin’s drama eventually took the backseat when one, sometimes two, of Hollywood’s party girls were again photographed being dragged out of some club completely trashed. The paparazzi never passed up a chance to get a picture of Justin with Cheyenne and/or Kiki, but things had calmed. It seemed the world had accepted that Justin Timberlake was a father now.
