Super Bowl 2018: Justin Timberlake's Prince tribute during halftime show draws criticism

The Purple One would likely have many thoughts.

Justin Timberlake covered "I Would Die 4 U" as a tribute to Prince at the 2018 Super Bowl halftime show alongside a video of the late singer performing in the background.

While the visual wasn't quite a hologram, it's unclear if Prince would have been happy with Timberlake's rendition of his 1984 hit.

Rumours began swirling earlier this week that there would be a hologram of Prince appearing during Timberlake's performance.

It was likely scrapped amid backlash since Prince once compared the idea of him being reincarnated on stage as a hologram "demonic" in a 1998 interview.

Sheila E. confirmed via Twitter she had spoken to Timberlake and the singer had agreed to perform sans hologram.

Timberlake didn't appear with a hologram, but with a projected image of Prince while he sang on piano.

Twitter had a lot of thoughts on Timberlake's Prince tribute -- and they weren't exactly the positive kind.

Jemele Hill said Prince "wouldn't approve" of Timberlake's tribute.

One user was mad about Timberlake insulting prince.

Alyssa Milano wrote a post that threw shade at Timberlake's performance following the halftime show.

People were also upset that Timberlake "dissed" Prince while he was alive and never apologised.

The jokes kept on coming: one user said they preferred "Odell Beckham and Eli Manning covering Dirty Dancing" to Justin Timberlake's performance.

Well, better luck next time, JT.