In the wake of singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake’s recent disclaimer before performing his 2002 breakup ballad ‘Cry Me a River’ in Las Vegas, Britney Spears has swiftly responded on her Instagram handle, as reported by People.
Sharing a video clip featuring a leopard between two pole-dancing men and a man standing upside down against a wall, Spears captioned the post with intriguing revelations. She hinted at untold stories from the set, with two different versions of the video shot in scorching 120-degree heat in Arizona. The caption also playfully mentioned her basketball victory over Timberlake, adding, “Psss I never mentioned how I beat him in basketball… and he would cry … no disrespect..!!!”
Timberlake, who performed at the inauguration of the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, delivered a quick disclaimer to the audience, including his wife Jessica Biel, stating, “No disrespect,” before launching into ‘Cry Me a River.’ The track, criticized by Spears in her memoir ‘The Woman in Me,’ has been a focal point of their highly publicized relationship from 1999 to 2002.
Spears, who released her bombshell memoir in October, addressed her fans in advance, emphasizing a desire to share her story directly. In ‘The Woman in Me,’ she revealed intimate details about her relationship with Timberlake, alleging that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant with his child.
The memoir also delved into the impact of “Cry Me a River” on her public image, describing it as a portrayal of her as a “harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy” while she was “comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood.”
Timberlake, though not confirming Spears as the inspiration for the song, had previously mentioned in his 2018 memoir, ‘Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me,’ that he wrote the song after feeling “scorned.” He admitted, “I’ve been scorned. I’ve been pissed off. I wrote ‘Cry Me a River’ in two hours. I didn’t plan on writing it.”
As the saga between the two pop icons unfolds, fans eagerly await further developments in this long-standing narrative of love, heartbreak, and public scrutiny.
