Prince's former fiancée and frequent collaborator Sheila E. took to Twitter before the Super Bowl to shut down rumors of a Prince hologram, and sure enough Justin Timberlake paid tribute to the late legend without the assistance of a soulless digital corpse. “Family, I spoke w/Justin 2nite and he shared heartfelt words of respect for Prince & the Purple fans,” she tweeted on Saturday night. “There is no hologram.”
Speaking with ET, she explained the situation further. "I just said no. I just felt it was too soon," she said. "The hologram was weird, and Prince did tell me [to] make sure nobody ever does a hologram of me. ‘If you’re still here, make sure nobody does a hologram.’ He thought it was very demonic and that’s his spiritual beliefs.”
She said that Timberlake reached out to her prior to his performance at the Super Bowl, explaining, "We had a good conversation, and then I assured the fans that there is no hologram." As for whether there was ever any plans to have a hologram join Timberlake onstage, David Cho, who works with Timberlake on a regular basis, confirmed there was never going to be a hologram to begin with.
"WE WERE NEVER DOING A FUCKING HOLOGRAM," he said on Instagram. Timberlake, meanwhile, says that the tribute was a chance for him to do something special for his "favorite musician of all time." Previously, Timberlake dissed Prince on Timbaland's "Give It to Me," but at least he's now admitting his mistake in doing so.
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