Justin Timberlake denies 'SNL' diss: 'I absolutely love Kanye'

By Meredith Blake

March 12, 2013 12 AM PT

Justin Timberlake loves Kanye West – he swears!

The singer is camped out at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City this week, promoting his upcoming album, “The 20/20 Experience.” He kicked off five nights of performances on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on Monday, after hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the fifth time.

Despite reaching that exclusive milestone, so far Timberlake is generating more attention for altering the lyrics to his song “Suit and Tie” in what has been widely interpreted as a dig at West. (To be fair, ‘Ye started the spat last month when he dissed Timberlake for daring to record a duet with his BFF, Jay-Z.)

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When Fallon ever-so-gently broached the subject on Monday’s show, Timberlake responded by denying he’d changed the words to the song at all.

“Did it seem that way? I don’t remember that,” he said, urging everyone to “calm down” over the whole kerfuffle.

Timberlake was so coy it was hard to tell whether he was trying to squash the beef with West, or to add fuel to the fire -- that is until he made a dramatic turn for the high road, stating that “For the record, I absolutely love Kanye.”

We’re still waiting to hear whether J.T.’s feelings are reciprocated.

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