The accusations have been made as part of a unfair dismissal lawsuit being brought against the boyband and their management by Ibrahim Duarte. He is seeking $10 million compensation on the grounds he was fired for racist reasons.

In the lawsuit Duart alleges all five members of the boyband used racial slurs and derogatory language towards him and other black members employed by the group, including their sound engineer and choreographer. He says Lance Bass was embarrassed by being seen with black crew members and made them travel on a different tour bus. He also claims that Timberlake once used the "n" word with him when he yelled, "You niggas ain't shit."

Duart, who has worked in the music industry for 25 years, worked for 'Nsync between Jan 1999 and Dec 2000. However his claims of racism may be undermined in court because of a different lawsuit for $155,000 brought by Duart against 'Nsync last year over fees he felt he was owed after parting company with the band. In that case, handled by a different attorney, no allegations of racism were made.