Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree of it in which James Earl Jones played the role of the returning ex-con. According to L. Russell Brown, he read Hamill's story in the "Reader's Digest", and suggested to his songwriting partner Irwin Levine that they write a song based on it. Levine and Brown then registered for copyright the song which they called "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree". At the time, the writers said they heard the story while serving in the military. Pete Hamill was not convinced and filed suit for infringement. Hamill dropped his suit after folklorists working for Levine and Brown
What Goes Around... Comes Around became Timberlake's third consecutive number one hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 from his "FutureSex/LoveSounds" album, becoming the first male artist since Usher in 2004 to have three or more consecutive number-one hits from one album. The single charted on Hot 100 for 25 weeks. "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on June 7, 2007. By September 3, 2010, the song had passed the two million sales plateau, and has sold 2,375,000 copies as of April 2013. As of 2018, the song has accumulated 3.5 million units in the US, combining sales