Justin Timberlake sparks outrage by calling Madonna his ‘ninja’ in birthday tweet

JUSTIN Timberlake is at the centre of a Twitter storm after he sent Madonna a birthday message referring to her as his “mother chucking ninja”.

Madonna, left, is joined by Justin Timberlake for a duet during her performance to celebrate the release of her new CD 'Hard Candy' at Roseland Ballroom, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

JUSTIN Timberlake is at the centre of a Twitter storm, after he sent Madonna a birthday tweet referring to her as his “mother chucking ninja”.

Followers quickly jumped on Timberlake for his use of the phrase, which is known as an alternative way of saying “mother f***ing n***a”.

According to US Weekly, the tweet read: “A happiest of Bdays to my mother chucking ninja, @Madonna!! Hope you have a great one, M!”

Users let Timberlake know their thoughts, responding with tweets like, “I just ended my relationship w/Justin,” and “Get Justin Timberlake the f**k out of here.”

Some referred to the insensitive timing of his tweet, given the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, where African-American teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by police on August 9.

“Justin Timberlake chose *this* week to call Madonna ‘my ninja’?” one wrote. “I just can’t.”

The word “ninja” has been substituted by other stars, too. Katy Perry used it when she covered Kanye West’s N***a’s in Paris during a performance in 2012.

Not surprisingly, Timberlake deleted the tweet, later retweeting a message about the events in Ferguson: “The world is watching #Ferguson. [And we pray.]”