Going through a breakup is hard, but when you're both living in the spotlight and trying to foster successful careers, things can get a little... petty.
Since Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me came out, many fans have come forward to theorize about the artist's life, especially how she was portrayed in the media over the years. A highlight, of course, was her portrayal as a "villain" during her years with Justin Timberlake.
In her memoir, Spears refuted many details about those years, leaving some fans with a bad taste in their mouth toward Justin Timberlake. So when Timberlake released a new song called "Selfish," though Spears already had a song in 2011 by the same name on her Femme Fatale album, fans were quick to remind Timberlake who had the title first.
Across all social media platforms, Spears' fans—who call themselves "Britney Army"—shared her version of "Selfish," and it hit the top of the charts the week of Timberlake's release, bumping his new title out of the top spot.
Good Morning America featured the phenomenon, as surprised as anyone at the persistence of Spears' fan following.
"We know Britney's fans don't play around. Britney Army always means business."
"Justin Timberlake has been making the rounds, appearing on late-night shows announcing a free concert here in New York City this week, and his music video for his new single, 'Selfish,' has racked up 1.8 million views in just a day, so it sounds like a pretty solid comeback, right?"
"Not so fast."
"There's just one problem: Britney Spears fans, now on a mission to send her 2011 track also called 'Selfish' to the top of the charts."
Not only did "Britney Army" request her song so many times that it topped the charts over Timberlake's new single, but two of Spears' music videos, "Oops! I Did It Again" and "I'm a Slave 4 U," are the top-played videos this week, pushing Timberlake's music video for "Selfish" down to the third spot.
Britney fans couldn't help but cackle over the results during Timberlake's premiere week.
True to Spears' history of releasing apologetic statements, Spears had this to say after the release:
"I wanna apologize for some of things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about, I am deeply sorry."
"I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake's new song, 'Selfish.' It is so good."
Timberlake's newest song will be included on his upcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was, on March 15.
"I was able, on some of the songs, to look back at the past and have a real, not a refracted perspective of what it was because they always say... you always hear that thing about, well, there's never any truth, there's just everybody's perspective of what happened."
"But to really look at it and be able to metabolize and verbalize my perspective on it, I don't think I've ever really done that before."
"I think every artist probably says this, but it is my best work. It has moments that are incredibly honest, but also, there's a lot of f**king fun on this album."
The title of Timberlake's album sounds like something a person would say about someone they regretted dating. After reading Timberlake's commentary about the upcoming album, we can't help but think it's a desperate jab at Spears for the secrets she spilled in her memoir.
So far, sharing his story in a song with such a familiar title doesn't seem to be working for Timberlake.
@thekalenallen/Threads
U.S. Mint
