Justin Timberlake has turned his Instagram comments off after facing backlash over anecdotes featured in Britney Spears‘ tell-all memoir.
The 42-year-old ‘Cry Me A River’ hitmaker has recently made headlines after Spears dropped several bombshells about their past relationship in her newly released memoir, The Woman in Me.
The two music stars began a high-profile romance that lasted for three years after they started dating in 1999. While the pair warmed many hearts with their relationship, things proved to be far from perfect as secrets and scandals slowly came to light during a very publicized breakup in 2002.
Not only had the former couple exchanged hurtful retorts about infidelity rumors in the press – which have now been confirmed by the 41-year-old singer herself – but Timberlake went on to fuel things further by writing songs that many believed were about his famous ex, including ‘Cry Me A River’ and ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’.
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake dated from 1999 to 2002. Credit: KMazur / Getty
Now, with the release of the ‘Baby One More Time’ songstress’s book, the *NSYNC heartthrob’s former relationship with Spears has become one of the key talking points surrounding the publication.
In her memoir, Spears claims the ‘Sexyback’ musician got her pregnant in the early 2000s, but the pair decided to proceed with an abortion because he didn’t want to be a father so young.
In addition to this, the ‘Toxic’ artist also confirmed the infidelity rumors, revealing that she kissed her dancer/choreographer Wade Robson. However, she claims that Timberlake was also unfaithful, writing: “There were a couple of times during our relationship when I knew Justin had cheated on me,” as cited by The Independent.
Spears explained how her “infatuation” with her ex-boyfriend caused her to overlook his alleged infidelity. “There were rumors about him with other dancers and groupies. I let it all go, but clearly, he’d slept around,” she penned. “It was one of those things where you know but you just don’t say anything.
“So I did, too. Not a lot – one time, with Wade Robson,” she added.
Due to this, Timberlake allegedly ended his relationship with Spears over a two-word text – which occurred when the 20-year-old singer was on the set of the ‘Overprotected: The Darkchild Remix’ music video in downtown LA, according to a Page Six report.
Director Chris Applebaum spoke to the publication about the day, sharing: “There are those people where there is something inside of them and you don’t know where it comes from — it’s like an ‘X’ factor. That’s what we saw with her.
“I was so happy that this person who was the biggest star in the world was everything I wanted her to be and then more,” he added.
However, towards the end of a long second day of filming, Applebaum recalled that Spears suddenly went missing for about 20 to 40 minutes, and later found her “sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, her makeup smudged and in tears”.
“I can’t believe it,” she said as he approached her. “Look it. This happened.” She held up her phone which showed a text from Timberlake that allegedly read: “It’s over!!!”
Applebaum said he persuaded her to finish the music video shoot by saying: “If you don’t have it in you, I totally understand… but if you want to go out there and finish this last set-up in the rain, you can show him that he just made the biggest f****** mistake of his life.”
In response, the pop legend allegedly responded: “You know that? That’s a good idea. I’m going to show him that he blew the best thing he ever had.”
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s relationship reportedly ended with a two-word text message. Credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Getty
The revelations in The Woman in Me have prompted a major scrutiny against Timberlake on social media.
While he has not publicly addressed any of Spears’ accusations, a source told the Daily Mail that he is “not at all happy” about the claims, but has not reached out to her to talk about it.
Furthermore, the ‘Mirrors’ singer turned off the comments on his Instagram after fans of the pop princess had been bombarding his comments section with abusive or negative remarks, per Page Six.
Meanwhile, Spears’ book was released on October 24 and sits atop Amazon’s Best Sellers and Barnes and Noble’s Best Sellers lists.