Britney Spears seemingly responded to former ex Justin Timberlake saying "no disrespect" before he sang "Cry Me a River" at the newly opened Fontainebleau casino in Las Vegas over the weekend.
The two major pop stars of the late 1990s famously broke up in 2002, and the separation reportedly inspired Timberlake to write "Cry Me a River," which was long believed by fans to be a diss track aimed at Spears.
In her recently released memoir The Woman in Me, Spears discussed her relationship with Timberlake and claimed that he insisted on her having an abortion because he allegedly "didn't want to be a father."
Fans were buzzing online and suspected Timberlake was addressing Spears when he performed "Cry Me a River" for the first time since Spears' book was published on October 24, 2023.
Here is a clip of Timberlake, taken from his Las Vegas performance.
Two days after Timberlake sang a mashup of his Grammy-winning song and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in Vegas, Spears appeared to echo the sentiment in a recent Instagram post.
She posted a clip of a leopard flanked by two pole dancers and a gymnast doing a handstand against the wall.
Spears wrote in the deleted caption:
"Oh Jesus Christ, the stories … I could tell on the set of this one☝🏻 !!! There's always more to the story and that's not even half of it !!!"
"It was shot in Arizona 120 degree heat 🥵 … 2 different version videos were shot for this song … most boys say 'OH I'M SHOOK'!!!"
"Psss I never mentioned how I beat him in basketball 🏀 and he would cry … no disrespect 🤷🏼🤷🏼🤷🏼 !!!"
@britneyspears/Instagram
Britney stans shared their thoughts and targeted Timberlake on X (formerly Twitter). No disrespect.
The subject of Spears' former relationship with Timberlake has been making the rounds on the internet since her memoir was published.
Speaking to People magazine, she said of her book before its release:
"It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me."
"No more conspiracy, no more lies–just me owning my past, present and future."
In her memoir, the "Oops!...I Did It Again" singer mentioned Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" song and music video, saying the song depicted 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."
While Timberlake has not publicly disclosed that "Cry Me a River" was about his split from Spears, he said in his 2018 memoir, 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."
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter