Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears in February 2002.Photo: Denise Trusc / Getty
Britney Spearsis reflecting on her relationship withJustin Timberlake.
The pop star was 17 when she began dating the then-18-year-old *NSYNC singer in 1999, and they were together until 2002.
In her new memoirThe Woman in Me, the “Piece of Me” singer, now 41, claims she was aware that Timberlake, now 42, was cheating on her, but chose not to say anything, as the relationship was new andshe was head over heels for the star.
“There were a couple of times during our relationship when I knew Justin had cheated on me. Especially because I was so infatuated and so in love, I let it go, even though the tabloids seemed determined to rub my face in it,” Spears writes. “When *NSYNC went to London in 2000, photographers caught him withone of the girls from All Saintsin a car. But I never said anything. At the time we’d only been together for a year.”
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Spears, who also reveals in her book thatshe had an abortion while pregnant with Timberlake’s child, says that another time, she and the singer were in Las Vegas when he apparently strayed once again.
“Another time, we were in Vegas, and one of my dancers who’d been hanging out with him told me he’d gestured toward a girl and said, ‘Yeah, man, I hit that last night,’” she writes. “I don’t want to say who he was talking about because she’s actually very popular and she’s married with kids now. I don’t want her to feel bad.”
“There were rumors about him with various dancers and groupies,” she writes. “I let it all go, but clearly, he’d slept around. It was one of those things where you know but you just don’t say anything.”
A rep for Timberlake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake in January 2001.Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
Spears and Timberlake first met in the early 1990son the set ofThe All-New Mickey Mouse Club, and later dated for three years before going their separate ways in 2002. He went on to marry actressJessica Bielin 2012, with whom he shares two sons.
The pair’s early aughts split was tense, and in 2002, Timberlakehinted that Spears had cheated on himwith the breakup track “Cry Me a River,” in which he cast a lookalike of the singer as his cheating ex in a music video. (In her memoir, Spears confirms she made out with their choreographer Wade Robson while she was dating Timberlake.)
The video set off a firestorm of tabloid headlines against Spears, and Timberlake fueled the flames with an interview four years later that criticized the “Gimme More” singer.
“When we initially parted ways I felt like she had a couple of opportunities to just sort of stick up for me, and she didn’t. Which is fine. But at that time, you know, I fought back,” he toldGQin 2006. “I used my mind. I came up with a song.”
In February 2021, though, he shared a lengthy Instagram postapologizing for the way he treatedSpears andJanet Jackson, writing: “I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism. I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Britney Spears' The Woman in Me.
In spite of their past differences, the “Mirrors” singerexpressed support for Spears in 2021amid her fight to end her 13-year conservatorship, which waseventually terminated that November.
“We should all be supporting Britney at this time. Regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it was… what’s happening to her is just not right,” he wrote on X at the time. “No woman should ever be restricted from making decisions about her own body. No one should EVER be held against their will… or ever have to ask permission to access everything they’ve worked so hard for.”
Spears releasedher much-anticipated memoiron Tuesday, through Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
“It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me,” Spearstold PEOPLE in an email interview for last week’s exclusive cover story. “No more conspiracy, no more lies — just me owning my past, present and future.””
Britney Spears on the cover of PEOPLE.Britney Brands
Britney Brands
source: people.com
