Justin Timberlake wants bygones to be bygones with ex Britney Spears.
“Justin hasn’t been letting the Britney fans get him down,” a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. “He believes his music and performance will speak for itself and is looking forward to connecting with his fans from the stage again.”
Earlier this month, Timberlake, 43, began his musical comeback as he dropped his new song “Selfish,” his first solo single in more than five years. “Selfish” is the first song that Timberlake released off his upcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was, which will be available on March 15. (Last year, Timberlake and his ‘NSync bandmates dropped a new song “Better Place” for the movie Trolls Band Together.)
Hours after “Selfish” hit airwaves, fans of Spears, 42, rallied together to stream her 2011 song of the same name. Spears’ track made it to No. 4 on the iTunes charts while Timberlake’s sat in first place.
Timberlake, however, is not letting the online discourse get him down. A second source tells Us that the musician is “very much on a path forward” and isn’t getting “sidetracked by the negativity.”
“He’s so excited to be making music again and doing what he loves,” the insider shares. “He made sure everything was perfect before teasing the new album.”
Spears’ fans decided to go after Timberlake three months after she published her memoir, The Woman in Me, in which the pop star opened up about her romance with Timberlake, whom she dated from 1999 to 2002.In the book, Spears detailed the duo’s alleged mutual infidelity and revealed that she had an abortion during their relationship.
While Timberlake faced backlash from the “Toxic” singer’s tell-all, Spears has since made effort to mend fences with her ex. After fans bolstered her song to No. 4 on iTunes to compete with Timberlake, Spears took to Instagram to apologize for what she shared in her book.
“I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book,” Spears penned at the time. “If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry.”
Spears didn’t specify who her apology was directed towards, but she was seemingly alluding to Timberlake. In the post, she also shared a clip of her ex performing the “Classroom Instruments” segment during his recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Spears also gushed about how much she liked Timberlake’s new song.
“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 ???” she wrote at the time.
This wasn’t the first time Spears addressed how people would perceive her memoir. When Spears’ book initially hit shelves, she took to social media to explain that she didn’t write it with the purpose to “offend” anyone, instead she was seeking closure from her past.
“It’s a beautiful clean slate from here!!!” she said via Instagram in October 2023. “I am here to establish it that way for the rest of my entire life!!! Either way, that is the last of it and s–t happens. This is actually a book I didn’t know needed to be written, although some might be offended, it has given me closure on all things for a better future.”
Watch the exclusive video above to learn more about Spears and Timberlake — and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
