Justin Timberlake fans gutted after Isle of Wight performance ‘not allowed’ on TV
That stopped the feeling.
Justin Timberlake fans hoping to watch his Isle of Wight Festival performance on Sky were left disappointed on Sunday night.
The American popstar, 44, has four UK number one singles to his name and was one of the biggest names who headlined the festival in 2025.
He was joined at the top of the bill over the weekend by the likes of legendary Police frontman Sting and Welsh chart-topping band Stereophonics.
Fans who hadn’t been able to see the Rock Your Body hitmaker in person had hoped to catch coverage of his set on Sky Arts, which now has a partnership with the festival.
But they were made to go without on Sunday night when it was confirmed live on air that Sky Arts wouldn’t be able to broadcast Justin’s set from Seaclose Park.
Edith Bowman, hosting Sky’s TV coverage from the festival, let fans and viewers know that the channel wasn’t allowed to broadcast any footage from Justin’s set.
Viewers were disappointed not to see the Mirrors hitmaker (Picture: Rich Fury/Getty)While an official statement wasn’t read out on air, users on social media and dedicated TV forums speculated as to the reasons why the SexyBack singer’s set was kept private.
@MissTracey_Dav commented on X: ‘Edith Bowman has confirmed Sky are not allowed to show the Justin Timberlake set – he’ll never get booked for Glastonbury then!’
@DarryBunne said: ‘Sky Arts not showing the Justin Timberlake set tonight at the Isle of Wight Festival (through no fault of theirs by all accounts).’
The festival attracts thousands of music lovers (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Justin’s show was not shown on Sky Arts (Picture: Michael Buckner/Getty)Elsewhere, @TheGlamaMama explained her disappointment: ‘Gutted that Sky Arts aren’t broadcasting Justin Timberlake. Why?’
On Facebook, Edward Coppock asked: ‘Anyone one know why they’re not showing the final day Isle of Wight Festival headline act Justin Timberlake on Sky TV on Sky Arts tonight?’
On the Digital Spy forums, user Dodrade asked, ‘Are Sky showing Justin Timberlake’s set tonight? He isn’t listed on the EPG?’ to which they were told that the set would not be broadcast.
ManUtdFan17 told Dodrade, ‘Nope. Edith just confirmed at start of broadcast,’ before speculating whether the decision had been made by Justin’s team.
Edith Bowman broke the news to those watching on TV (Picture: Bafta/Getty) Music fans are worried the same will happen to Neil Young’s set at Glastonbury (Picture: Erika Goldring/Getty)FlakeWhip then expanded the discussion to speculate that ‘certain acts insist on not being televised, or having control over what is televised, if they so wish’.
This weekend will see Neil Young headline Glastonbury, with fans of the legendary rock musician unsure whether his set from the Pyramid Stage will go out on the BBC.
Earlier this year, the 79-year-old music icon surprised everyone by saying he was pulling out of the festival after finding out that the BBC was a ‘partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do things in a way we were not interested in’.
However, Neil retracted that statement and said: ‘Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved.
‘Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there! Love, Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts’
Metro has contacted Isle of Wight Festival for information.
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