L.C. Makes J.T. Sound Like a Jerk

Do you remember the year 2000? If you're old enough to remember it — People born in 2000 are 14 now! It's okay to freak out! — what's the first thing that comes to mind? Y2K? Yeah, that was important, but you know what was an even bigger deal? Justin Timberlake's frosted tips. We all knew them, and some of us even loved them. One of these N'Sync era J.T. lovers is none other than Laguna Beach and The Hills star Lauren Conrad. In an interview with Us Weekly, Lauren Conrad admitted her childhood crush was Justin Timberlake and she elaborated so we would all know for sure that she was into Embarrassing Hair Era Justin and not After He Stopped Wearing Denim Formalwear Justin. Conrad says she preferred, "Like, the hair, license-plate-around-the-neck Justin in his prime."

Conrad's crush is far from shocking, but what is surprising is that Conrad speaking about her crush brings up the story of Conrad and Timberlake meeting, and it somehow manages to make Timberlake seem like an asshole. This is the guy who helps his fans get engaged during his concerts! The man who brought sexy back! Leave it to little miss perfect (who would totally mascara cry with you in your time of need) to make him seem like a real jerk.

Here's how the story entire story went down:

Once, L.C. was a young girl with a crush on Justin Timberlake.

Okay, maybe not that young, but you get the idea.

He was just so cute with his bleach blonde hair and his pouty singing face.

Why couldn't she be Britney? She'd totally wear a denim gown with him.

Then, in 2004, Lauren got her own TV show.

Now maybe she would get to meet Justin herself!

In 2007, the fateful day arrived. Lauren would present Justin with an award at the VMAs along with her friend and Hills co-star Whitney Port.

Justin came to the stage to accept his award and said to the world...

"Play more damn videos. I want to challenge MTV to play more videos."

It was so cold. Lauren and Whitney were standing right there.

Lauren was devastated.

She told Us Weekly in November 2007, "The biggest letdown was Justin Timberlake. I have always loved him, and he was a disappointment at the VMAs. Whitney and I presented him with an award. We were so excited, and he wouldn’t even take the award from us. Then he went up to the microphone and insulted reality television on MTV. We were standing up there smiling, and I felt so stupid."

What a jerk!

In 2012, Lauren spoke with the magazine again and her love for Justin had faded.

"I had the posters and went to concerts, I felt like every girl my age had that crush. It was probably the end of my love for him."

Still, things worked out just fine for Lauren.

She has a successful lifestyle website and runs an online shop that helps women artisans around the world, she made it through reality TV unscathed, she's engaged to her fiancé William Tell, and she is one of the only people on earth who has ever managed to make Justin Timberlake look like a douchebag. Way to go, L.C.!

Images: Lauren Conrad/Instagram; Giphy (9); Getty Images