Britney Spears is shedding light on how her relationship with Justin Timberlake came to an end in her new memoir, The Woman in Me.
Spears, 41, details getting a “text message” from Timberlake, 42, while she was on set filming a music video, an insider confirms to Us Weekly. Spears recalls feeling “clinically in shock” and “devastated” by how Timberlake pulled the plug on their relationship after three years together. Spears subsequently traveled back home to Louisiana, where Timberlake visited her with a handwritten letter that he framed.
“I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood,” she added, according to an excerpt from The New York Times, which was posted on Thursday, October 19.
Spears’ book, which is set to be released on Tuesday, October 24, addresses the pop star’s ups and downs over the years. In an excerpt from the memoir shared by People, Spears opened up about having an abortion before her split from Timberlake.
“But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young,” she wrote. “I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby. I don’t know if that 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.”
The former couple dated from 1999 to 2002 after meeting on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club. After their breakup, Timberlake raised eyebrows with the music video for his hit single “Cry Me a River,” which seemingly hinted that Spears was unfaithful.
Before Spears revisited their past in her book, Timberlake issued a public apology to his ex for how he may have played a role in the negative attention she received in the spotlight.
“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” he wrote in a statement shared via Instagram in February 2021 following the release of the New York Times documentary Freeing Britney Spears. “The industry is flawed. It sets men, especially white men, up for success. It’s designed this way.”
Timberlake noted he still has “respect” for Spears despite feeling like he “failed” her, adding, “As a man in a privileged position I have to be vocal about this. Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again. I can do better and I will do better.”
Ahead of The Woman In Me’s debut, a source exclusively told Us that Timberlake was “not going to be happy” with the book because Spears went “after him hard.” A second insider, meanwhile, clarified that Spears is simply sharing her truth.
“It’s not Britney’s intention to skewer anyone. She’s just going to relay the facts from her perspective,” the second source continued.
The Woman in Me hits shelves on Tuesday, October 24.
