Justin Timberlake was seen laughing and smiling, as was his *NSYNC bandmate Joey Fatone, during the backstage exchange
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Megan Thee Stallion and Justin Timberlake at the MTV VMAs in Newark, New Jersey on Sept. 12, 2023
It’s all love between Megan Thee Stallion and Justin Timberlake.
Though a viral video taken backstage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards Tuesday night appeared to show the rapper, 28, and the “Mirrors” singer, 42, apparently in the midst of a heated exchange, their brief chat was anything but angry, a source tells PEOPLE.
In the clip, Megan is seen getting her hair touched up backstage when Timberlake and his *NSYNC bandmates walk by. As they pass, Megan waves an enthusiastic finger at the star, and he smiles as he walks away. *NSYNC member Joey Fatone can also be seen laughing.
The insider says that what Megan was actually saying was that she’d like to hang out with Timberlake in a less chaotic setting.
“He said, ‘It’s so nice to meet you,’ and she said, ‘No, no, this don’t count, this don’t count. We gotta meet proper,’” the source says.
Related: *NSYNC Reunite at 2023 VMAs to Present Taylor Swift with Best Pop Video — and Friendship Bracelets!
A second source close to the situation adds that there was certainly no tension between the two.
“Meg loves Justin,” the source says. “She was saying, ‘No, no, no, we’ve never met before!’ It was their first time meeting and she was excited.”
Check out PEOPLE’s full MTV VMAs coverage to get the latest news on music’s big night.
Megan was on hand at the award show to perform her new song “Bongos” with Cardi B, while Timberlake reunited with former bandmates Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Lance Bass to present Taylor Swift Swift with the award for best pop video.
The “Anti-Hero” singer, 33, was thrilled by the group’s appearance, and could barely contain herself as she fangirled over the quintet while accepting her win.
“I had your dolls,” she told them. “Like, are you doing something? What’s going to happen now … They’re going to do something and I need to know what it is.”
Swift continued, “You’re pop personified, so to receive this from your golden pop hands is really … it’s too much. Thank you for the friendship bracelets.”
The 2023 MTV VMAs are airing live from The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday, Sept. 12 on CBS and BET, BET Her, VH1, Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network. Viewers can also catch the show through an MTV.com live stream or on Paramount+.
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