Timbaland issued an apology following his light-hearted remark about Justin Timberlake’s past relationship with Britney Spears during a live interview with 9th Wonder at the Kennedy Center on October 29.
During the interview, when asked about the renewed interest in their collaborative song “Cry Me a River” sparked by Spears’ memoir, Timbaland made a quip, saying, “She’s going a bit wild, isn’t she? I thought about calling JT and saying, ‘Man, you should’ve kept her in check.'”
After facing a barrage of criticism on social media, Timbaland addressed the issue during one of his customary TikTok live sessions. He expressed regret for his comments, saying, “I want to apologize to Britney’s fans and to her,” in response to a comment about his attitude towards women. “You know, ‘respecting women’? Absolutely.”
In an excerpt from Spears’ memoir, titled “The Woman in Me,” she recounts how Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” music video portrayed her as the antagonist following the widely publicized end of their relationship. The video featured Timberlake dealing with an unfaithful girlfriend who bore a striking resemblance to Spears, seemingly confirming media rumors of her infidelity.
Spears described the video in her book as depicting “a woman who looks like me cheating on him, while he wanders around, looking melancholic in the rain.” She goes on to detail how the media frenzy surrounding the video turned her into a “fallen woman who had broken the heart of America’s beloved golden boy,” even though she was in Louisiana, nursing a broken heart, while Timberlake was contentedly enjoying life in Hollywood.
Timbaland, who co-wrote and co-produced “Cry Me a River” and appeared in the music video, has a history of collaboration with Timberlake, producing his 2006 hit album “FutureSex/LoveSounds” and 2013’s “The 20/20 Experience.” Earlier in the year, he confirmed that he had wrapped up recording for Timberlake’s upcoming album, hinting that it would be reminiscent of “FutureSex” Part 2.
