It appeared as an SNL Digital Short on May 21, 2011, in the episode of the sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live, which saw Timberlake and Gaga as the host and musical guest, respectively.

It received a nomination at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, but it lost to another song from the same SNL episode.

The accompanying music video, which aired on the SNL broadcast, is a sequel to the "Motherlover" (2009) sketch that finds Samberg and Timberlake reprising their roles from the skit as they sing about having a threesome with Gaga.

In the midst of the announcement that Justin Timberlake would host Saturday Night Live on May 21, 2011, many media commentators speculated that there would be a recurrence of the two characters that he and comedian Andy Samberg portrayed in the past SNL Digital Shorts—"Dick in a Box" (2006) and "Motherlover" (2009).

[1] Speculation increased when photos of the duo shooting a music video, donning the same suits worn in "Dick in a Box", were released to the media.

[4][3] Samberg confirmed that the song was written with Lady Gaga in mind since she was set to appear on SNL that week as a musical guest, along with Timberlake as host.

[6] A R&B and new jack swing song,[7][8] the premise of "3-Way" follows the early 1990s pop duo of Samberg and Timberlake finding themselves invited to a threesome with a woman, portrayed by Gaga.

Matt Donnelly of the Los Angeles Times praised the skit, writing that "Timberlake and Samberg work an intentionally cheesy R&B shtick with hilarious results".

[9] The Hollywood Reporter's Aaron Couch wrote that with the skit, "Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg may have topped their Emmy-winning digital short D--- in a Box [sic]".

[16] "3-Way" received a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, although it lost to the song "Justin Timberlake Monologue" from the same episode of SNL.

On September 18, 2011, during the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, the Lonely Island performed a medley of three songs, starting with "Jack Sparrow" (2011) and ending with "I Just Had Sex" (2011).