'He apologized': Mandy Moore was 'mortified' but humbled by Justin Timberlake's rude comment years ago
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mandy Moore was among the many people who were enthralled with the NSYNC mania in the past. However, she was 'mortified' when popular boyband member Justin Timberlake saw the size of her foot during an incident.
In a recent interview, the mother of two looked back on her early career and acknowledged that, despite her rising fame, she was simply a regular girl "besotted" with boybands.
Mandy Moore recalls Justin Timberlake's awkward remark about her feet
In a recent Bustle interview, the 39-year-old mother recalled the embarrassing moment that occurred when she was on tour with NSYNC.
The 'This Is Us' alum revealed, "They were comparing height and foot size, and [Justin Timberlake] looked at my feet and said, ‘Wow, you have big feet for a girl.’ I was like 5’10” and had size 10 feet. At that point, I was just this long, skinny thing with these long boat feet."
"It didn't scar me, but I was like, ‘Oh, that was not the thing that you wanted this really handsome, famous guy to notice about you,’" Moore recounted.
"Years later, he found me and apologized for it, which I thought was wholly unnecessary, but entirely gracious and sweet of him," she said.
"He's like, 'I know how that could traumatize you.' I was like, 'Justin, no, no, no, I'm fine,'" Moore stated. "It was very, very kind of him. That was a mortifying moment. But you know, that kind of stuff, it's good for you."
Speaking of her relationships with boys back then, Moore recalled, "Just holding hands with somebody still made my palms all sweaty, but yeah, I was getting to have the opportunity to be on MTV with Carson Daly and, oh my gosh, all these boy banders, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys."
"I was just a normal young girl besotted with all of them," Moore said.
Mandy Moore discusses early years and touring with A-listers
Even though touring among A-list celebrities would make anyone nervous, Moore admitted that her anxiety has increased since then.
The Emmy nominee said, "I didn't know enough to be as nervous as I probably should have been, like you're stepping into an adult world, you're on the precipice of life changing forever as you know it and any sort of autonomy is going by the wayside."
"I am really grateful looking back that nobody took me outside of my comfort zone. I was always just allowed to be myself," the actress added.
Having said that, she was never given the opportunity to compose her own songs.
"It's funny. I feel like that was a time when — and maybe the music industry is the same way now — this was very much chosen for me. This was the song, and they were going to make it work in some shape or form." Moore explained.
The Hollywood beauty concluded by saying, "I was the lucky one that got to do it, and it helped jumpstart everything."
"But yeah, in a different sliding doors moment, it could have been anybody that sang that song and probably made it what it was," she added.
The actress and former teen pop sensation met her now-husband Taylor Goldsmith, frontman for the folk-rock band Dawes, on Instagram following her split from musician Ryan Adams in January 2015. (The couple's divorce was finalized in 2016).
The pair tied the knot in a small garden ceremony in 2018 after getting engaged in 2017.
The two welcomed son August "Gus" Harrison Goldsmith into their family in February 2021. Moore gave birth to Oscar "Ozzie" Bennett Goldsmith, another son, in October 2022.
