Timberlake Video: Mocked Homeless Man's Appeal

A homeless man from Los Angeles who featured in a mock video produced by one of Justin Timberlake's friends for his wedding wants the star to visit him on Skid Row.

The man, who goes by the name "Eddie", has lived for six or seven years in the neighbourhood which has a large homeless population.

The video, initially posted on the Gawker website, featured a series of LA vagrants, street musicians and others talking into a camera, sending wishes to Timberlake and actress Jessica Biel on their recent Italian nuptials.

Eddie was paid \$40 (£25) to appear in the video but said he did not realise it was going to make fun of him.

High-profile lawyer Gloria Allred is representing Eddie who has written an open letter to Timberlake asking to arrange a meeting with him "very soon".

He said he wants to talk to the actor-singer "so you can understand my situation, and so that we can talk about this situation involving so many others who are homeless".

Ms Allred challenged Timberlake and his friends to "take action to provide meaningful assistance to 'Eddie' and others like him".

"This issue is not just about fans being upset or anyone being offended by a video," she said. "It is about people being down on their luck and in desperate need of help by those who are in a position to provide it."

Timberlake posted an open letter in October on his website about the video, saying: "I had no knowledge of its existence. I had absolutely ZERO contribution to it."

The video was titled Greetings from your Hollywood friends who just couldn't make it.

"I think we can all agree that it was distasteful, even though that was not its intention," Timberlake added.

Eddie said Timberlake's letter showed he has a "good heart, but (does) not really understand the situation I face or that (is) faced by the thousands living on the streets of Los Angeles and around the country".