Count yourself lucky if you got to see last week’s “Saturday Night Live” sketch in which Justin Timberlake played a backup dancer for Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” 

Almost immediately after we posted the video on Monday, it was removed from YouTube because of copyright issues. So, naturally we headed over to NBC.com to retrieve the original. Only, it wasn’t there — or anywhere else online, for that matter.

So, what gives?

With TV audiences dwindling by the second, surely the execs at the peacock network realize that online viewing is the future. (Honestly, with the election over, what other reason do we have to go to their website?)

See where Sasha Fierce ranks in our list of 8 Pop Culture Trends We Hated in 2008!

So, the holdout must be Beyonce then. She and Papa Knowles made NBC sign some kind of contract that bars them from airing it online, right? Wrong again.

While GaySocialites.com reported Thursday that Justin only agreed to perform the sketch for “a set price” and wanted ”performance residuals” for any further distribution, those claims have already been disputed. 

“The story you’re citing is completely untrue. Sorry Gaysocialites.com,” NBC publicist Michael Liepis told The Los Angeles Times entertainment blog.
”The reason that sketch isn’t online is a simple music clearance issue.”

Thank goodness we still got Shane.

Related Content:
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Jay-Z Talks ‘Blueprint 3,’ Beyonce Dishes on Wedding
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Tags: Beyonce, Justin Timberlake
This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 5:01 am and is filed under Internet Goin' Nutz, Ladies First, News, Sounds & Culture, Television, The Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.