Britney Spears is accusing Justin Timberlake of infidelity in her The Woman in Me memoir.
A source confirms to Us Weekly that Spears, 41, writes that she knew that Timberlake, 42, cheated on her “a couple of times” throughout their relationship.
In one instance, Spears alleges that the former ‘NSync singer was photographed with “one of the girls from All Saints” while out in London in 2000. (British girl group All Saints was comprised of Natalie Appleton, Nicole Appleton, Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis before they disbanded in 2001.) The encounter allegedly happened one year into Spears’ relationship with Timberlake.
Spears also writes that Timberlake, at a later date, once allegedly bragged to one of her dancers about a girl he hooked up with the night before in Las Vegas. She claims that Timberlake said he “hit that last night,” according to the insider.
The “Stronger” singer and Timberlake — who met as costars on The All New Mickey Mouse Club in the early ‘90s — made their public debut as a couple in 1999. After three years together, they went their separate ways in 2002 after reports of infidelity.
“We’re not perfect. I don’t judge anybody,” Timberlake told Barbara Walters when asked about the rumors that Spears had been unfaithful. “It’s just young love. It was a very intense relationship, that’s for sure.”
Timberlake’s breakup ballad “Cry Me a River” also seemed to hint that their split occurred due to infidelity. In the music video, Timberlake even costarred with a Spears lookalike.
“I think I was in shock, to be honest. I didn’t know what to say, what to do,” Spears told Rolling Stone in 2003 about finding out Timberlake had seemingly written a song about her. “That was the last thing I ever thought somebody might do. I was really shocked s—tless. But you live and you learn.”
She continued at the time: “I think it looks like such a desperate attempt, personally. But that was a great way to sell the record. He’s smart.”
Timberlake — who has yet to address Spears’ memoir claims — later rehashed the musical drama in his 2018 book, Hindsight & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me.
“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,” he wrote at the time. “The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it. People heard me and they understood it because we’ve all been there.”
Timberlake eventually moved on with wife Jessica Biel, with whom he shares two sons. Spears, for her part, shares two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline. She later married Sam Asghari in June 2022 before they ultimately split in August.
The Woman in Me hits shelves on Tuesday, October 24.
