Audrina Patridge looks back on a disappointing meeting with Justin Timberlake in her new memoir, “Choices: To the Hills and Back Again.”
According to the reality star, 37, the “SexyBack” singer, 41, exhibited “rude diva behavior” at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.
“We’ve been invited to so many awards ceremonies and even asked to present a few times,” Patridge writes in her debut book, reflecting on the exciting opportunities her and her ‘Hills’ colleagues were given.
“I will never forget the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in particular. Lauren [Conrad]Whitney [Port] and I was on stage to present the Male Artist of the Year award,” she continues.
“Lauren and Whitney were beyond excited when Justin Timberlake won because they were super fans. His music wasn’t my kind of music, so I didn’t care, but I was excited about them.”
Patridge found out right away that she didn’t just like Timberlake’s discography, but also his personality.
“And then Justin wouldn’t even come to us to collect the full house prize! Chris Brown came on stage with him, took the award from us himself, then handed it to Justin as we pulled over to the side,” she says.
Although Timberlake praised Brown in his acceptance speech, it was Timbaland who basically took the Moonman from the “Hills” ladies and handed it over to his mentee and collaborator.
Patridge goes on to say that Timberlake “devastated” Conrad, 36, and Port, 37, with his actions, while she herself was “annoyed by his rude diva behavior”.
The new author explains that things only got worse from then on.
“As if that wasn’t bad enough, Justin took center stage and said to the audience, ‘MTV, play more damn videos. We don’t want to see “The Simpsons” or reality TV,” she writes, calling Timberlake’s comments a “personal attack” on the unscripted stars.
“Lauren’s jaw dropped,” adds Patridge. “We were humiliated.”
Patridge, Conrad, Port and fellow castmate Heidi Montag made up the core cast that formed “The Hills” in 2006.
Although Conrad and Port left early to take advantage of other opportunities, the iconic reality show ran for a total of six seasons.
Conrad’s “Laguna Beach” nemesis Kristin Cavallari eventually stepped in as the series’ new protagonist before it ended in 2010 after four years on the air.
The show rebooted in 2019 as “The Hills: New Beginnings”, with Patridge, Port and Montag, now 35, returning. Conrad did not participate, while Cavallari, now also 35, appeared in season 2 of 2021 before it was finally canceled in January.
In 2007, at the time of Timberlake’s aforementioned VMA win, “The Hills” attracted millions of viewers each week on MTV. The cast – then in their early twenties – quickly rose to mainstream fame, their faces frequently appearing in tabloids and on the covers of magazines such as Teen Vogue, Seventeen and CosmoGirl.
Patridge points out that one musician during the mid-aughts awards show was especially nice to her, Conrad and Port.
“Fortunately, not everyone was equally rude [as Timberlake]. Our table was right next to this up-and-coming artist and her mother. Maybe you recognize the name Rihanna?” she writes about the now A-list celebrity known for her love of reality TV.
“I talked to her and her mother for a while that night, and she couldn’t have been nicer,” explains Patridge. “She was probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever met at an awards ceremony.”
“Choices: To the Hills and Back Again” is now available.