Britney-book-justin-timberlake

Every Damning Mention Of Justin Timberlake In Britney Spears’ Memoir

Tell us you love Punkee without telling us you love Punkee. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. It'll mean the world.

For years Justin Timberlake controlled the narrative about his relationship with Britney Spears. With the release of her new memoir, Britney Spears is taking the power back. Question is, will JT make it out of the fire? 

As a devout Britney fan for almost my entire life this memoir is my new Bible. I’ve grown up watching Britney get slammed by the press and have her mental health become a cheap joke. Now, after years of being in a conservatorship and having men talk for her, Britney is finally spilling the tea she’s been brewing for 20 years. She didn’t hold back and oh boy, the details are juicy. 

To be honest, I’ve always known Justin Timberlake was dodgy but I never really had concrete proof. Other than that time he dismantled Janet Jackson’s career and profited off of it. Or that time Megan Thee Stallion seemingly argued with him (I still don’t buy that this was a friendly exchange). Now Britney has dropped all the evidence I need to know that Justin Timberlake is a bad egg who helped tear Britney’s public image into absolute tatters. 

Let’s unpack all the biggest Justin-related-revelations together, shall we?

Britney Spears was deeply in love with Justin  

The first time Britney was introduced to Justin was on set of the Mickey Mouse Club alongside Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling.  She said that she “quickly” connected “with a boy named Justin Timberlake”. I wish I could have told young Britney to run.

Justin and Britney’s relationship didn’t start to pick up steam until she released her single ‘…Baby One More Time’ and joined NSYNC on tour. But it wasn’t until they were hanging out during Britney’s own tour that she realised she loved him. “I was head over heels in love with him — so in love with him it was pathetic.” 

Britney explains that they were drawn together like “magnets”. “It was weird, to be honest, how in love we were.” It’s rather heartbreaking to read how in love with Justin Britney was. She clearly adored him. It’s a love and adoration that prevented her from speaking out against him so many times even though he had no issue doing so to her. But I’ll get into that later. 

Justin Timberlake’s ‘blaccent’

In something that simultaneously made me laugh and cringe was Britney explaining how Justin allegedly used a blaccent when they ran into Ginuwine in New York City. “J got all excited and said, so loud, ‘Oh yeah, fo shiz, fo shiz! Ginuwiiiiiine! What’s up, homie?” Britney says. Yikes. 

Britney said that she thought sometimes NSYNC “tried too hard to fit in” with Black artists. Get them Britney! 

Around this time Britney noticed the difference in questions the media would ask her compared to Justin. “Everyone kept making strange comments about my breasts, wanting to know whether or not I’d had plastic surgery.” Gross. 

The iconic double-denim look

Around 2001 Justin and Britney were living together in Orlando with Britney saying it “was a good time in my life. I was so in love with Justin, just smitten”. It was the same time that Justin and Britney wore the most iconic red carpet look of all time. Yes, I’m talking about the matching double denim looks at the 2001 American Music Awards. 

britney-justin-denim

Britney and Justin at the AMAs in denim. Image Credit: Getty

Of course, it was all Britney’s idea after she told Justin and their stylist that the two should both do denim-on-denim. “With the matching denim we blew it up.” Yeah, you’re goddamn right Britney, you did.  

“I get that it was tacky, but it was also pretty great in its way, and I am always happy to see it parodied as a Halloween costume. I’m glad to know that Britney would approve of my 18th birthday look. I tore apart a kids pair of jeans to make a denim cowboy hat and wore my Britney Spears shirt. 

britney-justin-halloween-outfit

I wasn’t kidding. Image Credit: Supplied

The Justin Timberlake cheating rumours 

“There were a couple of times during our relationship when I knew Justin had cheated on me,” Britney explains in her memoir. 

Britney says that because she was so “infatuated and so in love” she let it go. Even if the tabloids kept bringing it up and rubbing it in her face. She continued to ignore it after Justin was photographed with one of “the girls from All Saints in a car”. Pardon me while my blood boils.

What left my mouth agasp was when I read that Justin allegedly gestured towards a girl in Vegas saying “Yeah, man, I hit that last night.” Yucky. Ew. No thanks. According to Britney that same woman is “very popular” and “married with kids now”. That’s why she doesn’t name her to prevent the woman from feeling bad. We love a respectful queen. 

It would be remiss of me to not also mention that after it was clear Justin was sleeping around, Britney admitted to being unfaithful –only once though. Britney said she went out to a Spanish bar with Australian dancer Wade Robson and they made out that night. 

Britney’s heartbreaking abortion

The ‘love story’ makes a devastating detour when Britney confesses to falling pregnant with Justin’s baby. “It was a surprise, but for me it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day.” 

The joy of conceiving a child with the person she loved was short lived for Britney because “Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives”. 

It infuriated me that Britney felt like she didn’t have much of a choice to argue with Justin because she loved him too much. “I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby.” It infuriated me even more because Britney still isn’t sure if it was the right decision. “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.” 

Not only would an abortion be an intense and sometimes traumatising experience but to do it without support would be awful. Britney revealed that she didn’t go to the doctor or a hospital to have the abortion. Instead she took the “little pills” at home alone with Justin and her family friend Felicia. 

The experience Britney describes is harrowing. “I went into the bathroom and stayed there for hours, lying on the floor, sobbing and screaming … I lay there wondering if I was going to die.” 

You’d think that by that point your boyfriend would take you to see a doctor or at least do something proactive to help. Justin decided that it would be a good time to lay on the floor strumming his guitar. So helpful Justin!

“I do, twenty years later, remember the pain of it, and the fear,” Britney says. 

Justin and Britney’s breakup text

Like all dirtbags, Justin broke up with Britney via text when she was on set of her video for the ‘Overprotected’ remix. 

Britney said Justin “started being very standoffish” with her as he started to make his first solo album Justified. “I think that was because he’d decided to use me as ammunition for his record.” Britney was left devastated, saying she could “barely speak for months … All I could do was cry”. 

Justin Timberlake willingly fed Britney Spears to the tabloid sharks 

As Justin rode the wave of his album release he played an unreleased song for Barbara Walters called ‘Don’t Go (Horrible Woman)’ that Britney believed was about her. He then released the ‘Cry Me A River’ music video where a Britney lookalike cheats on Justin. 

What makes this especially despicable to me is that Justin was the one who repeatedly cheated on Britney and dumped her after she’d just had an abortion. “I was described as a harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy. The truth: I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood.”

“May I just say that on his explosive album and in all the press that surrounded it, Justin neglected to mention the several times he’d cheated on me?” Britney says. But it wouldn’t have mattered what Justin said. By that point the media, and the world, had made up their mind that Britney was a bad person. 

This is where Britney starts to go in on Justin. She goes on to say, “I see how men are encouraged to talk trash about women in order to become famous and powerful … my betraying him gave the album more angst, gave it a purpose”. Spitting absolute facts, Britney.

Reading “I don’t think Justin realized (sic) the power he had in shaming me. I don’t think he understands to this day,” filled me with a deep rage. Justin was able to skyrocket his career off the back of belittling and shaming Britney while she was vilified. She said she couldn’t go anywhere without being booed by the public. Booed! What is wrong with people? The saddest part is Britney believed that she somehow deserved this treatment. That it was “karma” catching up to her. 

“That’s one thing Justin and Kevin ruined about me. I used to trust people. But after the breakup with Justin and then my divorce, I never really did trust people again.” 

Britney’s memoir, The Woman In Me, is available to buy from Big W now. 

Image credit: Getty + Punkee