It’s giving 28 degrees.
98 Degrees frontman Nick Lachey got a frosty reception on TikTok after posting a passionate cover of Halsey’s hit 2020 track “Without Me,” which left some users reaching for the “mute” button.
In the 37-second long video posted on his TikTok account, the 50-year-old crooner seems to be feeling all the feels as he performs the hit track while sitting on a coach accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
“I used to do something called #MusicMonday where I’d drop weekly covers,” he explained in the post’s caption on Monday. “Should I bring it back to TikTok? Let me know.”
While the co-host of Netflix’s “Love Is Blind” hit all the right notes, he may have felt blindsided when a duet video of the performance posted by Betches captioned, “When you’re on a 3rd date and he whips out a guitar and says he’s ‘never done this before,’” garnered a plethora of negative reactions.
“Someone said it’s giving youth pastor,” one user quipped “Facts.”
“His PR team must have been on a vacation,” another viewer chimed in.
“The crazy part is he taped this, watched it, and said yep this is the one. Post it,” another watcher added.
“What did Halsey do to deserve this lol,” one person asked.
After watching a slew of fans referenced Lachey’s first wife Jessica Simpson.
“Jessica Simpson is saying “and you said I couldn’t sing?!,” one hater said.
“Jessica is always on his mind,” another viewer chimed in.
“Jessica, take him back!” quipped a third detractor.
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Many fans made jokes that included mention of Lachey’s boyband.
“It’s giving 28 degrees,” one person wrote.
“I’m 42 and didn’t know I could feel this dry,” one wrote.
“It’s giving room temp 78°,” another joked.
With Greta Gerwig’s film “Barbie,” up for a slew of Oscars and Ryan Gosling’s Academy Award-nominated performance still on everyone’s mind, many user were quick to compare Lachey’s rendition to the memorable scene in the film where Ken serenades Barbie (Margot Robbie).
“Auditioning for the role Ken,” one person commented.
“That’s kenough,” a second person wrote.
“you are kennough (pls don’t serenade me again),” the official Duolingo account wrote.
Despite the backlash, many fans flooded the comments with positive vibes and complimented the “I Can’t Ht You Anymore” singer’s vocals.
“He is not bad at all. I don’t know why people are making fun of him. For real. He’s older and his tone has changed but so many people cannot do this!!” one defender wrote.
“I’m not even a fan of this guy but I think he sounds good. Y’all are too used to everybody using autotune,” a second person added.
“I don’t understand I think he’s singing OK. he’s on key he’s in tune what’s the problem?” a curious user asked.
“I thought he was being quite vulnerable…came off cute to me,” a fan noted.
Lachey has not publicly commented on the backlash to the video.