‘SNL 50: The Anniversary Special': How to Watch

Unfortunately, Justin Timberlake did not bring sexy back to Studio 8H for SNL 50: The Anniversary Special.

The "Cry Me a River" singer—whose iconic Saturday Night Live sketches include digital shorts "D--k in a Box" and "Motherlover" as well as "Omeletteville"—was not among the star-studded attendees at the Feb. 16 event honoring 50 years of the sketch comedy show. 

But, he had a valid reason. "Justin is in the middle of a world tour," a source exclusively told E! News, "and was unable to attend." (Also missing from the audience: Dan Aykroyd, Bill Hader, Dana Carvey and more.)

Timberlake—a member of the SNL five-timers club after hosting the show in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013—first appeared on the NBC series in March 2000 when *NSYNC served as the musical guest.

Since then, the dad to kids Silas, 9, and Phineas, 4, with wife Jessica Biel, has made several memorable appearances on SNL, even performing alongside BFF Jimmy Fallon in sketches like "The Barry Gibbs Talk Show" and "Wrappinville."

In addition to his on-camera work, Timberlake, as it turns out, also played a key role behind the scenes at SNL, specifically over a "Single Ladies" sketch for Beyoncé in 2008.

As Timberlake explained in Questlove and Oz Rodriguez's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, he received a text from Andy Samberg with a star-studded pitch.

“He said, 'Bobby Moynihan has this great idea for a sketch about you, me, and him being Beyoncé’s background dancers that never made the cut,'" Timberlake recalled. "I was like, 'Full leotard’? And he’s like, 'Yeah.’ I was like, ‘This is too funny. We have to do this.’”

As for how Bey felt about it?

“She was very polite about it, but she was very hesitant," Timberlake shared. "And when I say hesitant, I mean like, she was not having it. I’m like: Does she know how funny this is gonna be? How beloved this whole moment will be?”

“I put the leotard and the heels and the hose on and everything, and put a robe on,” he continued. “I walked and knocked on her door, I threw the robe down and put my hands on my hips and she was like, ‘No you didn’t!’”

And it did the trick.