Britney Spears started the week by offering apologies to Justin Timberlake’s fans and praising two of her former lover’s latest songs.
In an Instagram post on Sunday night (which is now private), Spears expressed admiration for Timberlake’s latest song, “Selfish,” while also offering an apology for certain aspects of her memoir, The Woman in Me.
“I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry,” Spears captioned a video of Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon performing “Selfish” on The Tonight Show‘s “Classroom Instruments” segment.
“I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’ It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together I laugh so hard ??? Ps ‘Sanctified’ is wow too.”
Though the Instagram account is set to private, Spears has millions of followers. Of course, screen grabs of the post made their way to X (formerly Twitter).
Britney Spears’ Apology Comes After Her Fans Have Relentlessly Trolled Justin Timberlake
Spears’ praise comes in the wake of her fans dragging Timberlake on Friday by propelling her 2011 song “Selfish” up the music charts. The estranged pop star’s track reached the Top 40 of the US iTunes chart last Thursday.
This coincided with Timberlake’s release of the first single from his upcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was. By Friday afternoon, Spears’ “Selfish” claimed the No. 1 position. Meanwhile, Timberlake’s track dropped from the top spot to No. 3, according to Billboard.
The feud between Justin and Britney fans runs back over two decades. Since Timberlake publicly accused Spears of infidelity in his 2002 single “Cry Me a River,” her fan base has held a grudge against him.
Fans of Spears have harbored animosity towards Timberlake, whom the “I’m a Slave 4 U” singer was romantically involved with from 1999 to 2002. However, this resentment was reignited with the publication of Spears’ memoir. Within the pages of her book, Spears alleged that she underwent an abortion while they were together.
Timberlake and Jessica Biel, his wife, have deliberately kept a low profile in recent months. They have endured harassment from Britney Spears‘ fans ever since the release of her memoir in October 2023.
The beleaguered couple sought refuge in Mexico alongside their two young sons. Additionally, Timberlake temporarily disabled comments on his Instagram account after receiving an inundation of hateful messages from Spears’ fans.