Britney Spears Says She Had An Abortion While Dating Justin Timberlake
Britney Spears has revealed she had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake.
The ‘Toxic’ singer, 41, is preparing to release her memoir ‘The Woman in Me’, which will give her the opportunity to open up about past experiences – including her 13-year conservatorship under her father Jamie Spears.
Spears will also go into detail about her highly public relationship with Justin Timberlake, 42, whom she dated from 1999 to 2002.
The pair met when they were only 12 years old on the set of All-New Mickey Mouse Club, as per The Independent.
One bombshell that has been released in anticipation of Spears’ memoir is that the pop star found herself pregnant while dating the ‘Mirrors’ singer.
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In an extract seen by People, Spears describes the pregnancy as a ‘surprise, not a tragedy’ as she loved Timberlake and always thought they would have a family together.
She claims: “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.”
Spears was 17 when she and the former N-SYNC lead singer started dating, while he was 18.
Discussing her decision to get the abortion, she implies that she made the decision because the ‘Rock Your Body’ singer wanted her to.
Spears explains: “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.
“To this day, it’s one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life.”
Throughout their relationship, the celebrity couple was all over the news and they made appearances at numerous public events – including the famous all-denim look at the 2001 American Music Awards.
Spears and Timberlake officially broke up in 2002 and not long after, Timberlake released one of his biggest hits, ‘Cry Me a River’.
The track’s music video follows the In Time actor breaking into a house and shows a blonde woman who happens to share a resemblance to Spears.
This led to rumours that she cheated on him, but Timberlake dismissed these claims during an interview with Barbara Walters – adding that he and the ‘…Baby One More Time’ singer agreed not to ‘say specifically why’ they broke up – adding that it was an ‘intense relationship’, as per Today.
A year later, Spears opened up about the breakup in an interview with Diane Sawyer, where she explained: “I think everyone has a side of their story to make them feel a certain way… and I’m not technically saying he’s wrong, but I’m not technically saying he’s right either.”
Timberlake issued a public apology to the ‘Gimme More’ singer – and Janet Jackson following their infamous 2004 Super Bowl half-time show – for the way he acted after their breakup, as highlighted in the 2021 documentary Framing Britney.
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He wrote in an Instagram post (via The Guardian): “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. I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”
Since their breakup, they have both had separate relationships – with Timberlake marrying The Illusionist actress Jessica Biel in 2012 and they have since had two sons: Silas, 8, and Phineas, 2.
Meanwhile, Spears has gone on to have two children – Sean 18, and Jayden, 17 – with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
She married fitness instructor Sam Asghari in 2022, but the pair announced their divorce earlier this year.
Britney Spears’ memoir ‘The Woman in Me’ will be released on October 24.
