Britney Spears’ highly anticipated memoir, The Woman in Me, hits shelves Oct. 24, but a few shocking excerpts have already ignited conversation about the pop icon’s private life.
The most unexpected revelation was that she fell pregnant while dating Justin Timberlake when they were both 19, and the Cry Me A River singer made her get an abortion because “he didn’t want to be a father.”
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"It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated," she wrote in the excerpt obtained by People magazine.
"But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy,” she continued. "He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young. 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."
People have pointed out that the piano melody resembles a lullaby, as well as analyzing different lyrics of the emotional song
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The Toxic singer referred to the abortion as “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”
Britney and Justin dated from 1999 to 2002 and were one of the most talked-about relationships in the music industry.
Following their split, Justin Timberlake made it look as if the relationship had ended because Spears had been unfaithful to him. In his post-breakup song, Cry Me A River, he sings: “You don't have to say what you did / I already know, I found out from him.”
Fans took to X to share their theories about the 2003 single
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The music video features a Britney lookalike, leading many people to believe she had cheated on Justin.
After the revelations, people began analyzing Britney’s emotional single Everytime, released in 2003 as part of her album In The Zone, to listen to her side of the story.
The song includes lyrics like "Every time I see you in my dreams/ I see your face, it's haunting me/ I guess I needed you, baby"
Image credits: Britney Spears
What was previously believed to be a public apology to her ex-boyfriend is now being understood as her account of the traumatizing experience of undergoing an abortion.
The song includes lyrics like “I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song's my sorry,” which has many fans speculating that the lines may express Britney’s feelings of regret or remorse.
What was previously understood as a public apology to her ex-boyfriend for being unfaithful is now seen as a reflection of her feeling of guilt following the abortion
Image credits: Britney Spears
Image credits: Britney Spears
Additionally, the single’s melody and piano introduction are strikingly similar to a lullaby.
In the chorus, the pop star sings: “Every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face, it’s haunting me / I guess I need you, baby.” Later on, she says: “I make believe that you are here / It’s the only way that I see clear.”
The line “What have I done? You seem to move on easy” was interpreted as Britney’s way of questioning Justin’s distant and unconcerned attitude following the procedure.
The music video features a close-up shot of a newborn baby in a hospital room
Image credits: Britney Spears
Image credits: Britney Spears
Fans have also re-examined the Everytime music video, which shows the singer watching a baby be born in a hospital after she had apparently died by suicide in a bathtub.
At the end of the video, Britney emerges from the water alive and well, and the camera focuses on a newborn child wrapped up in a blanket in a hospital room.
You can take a look at the 'Everytime' music video below
Image credits: Britney Spears
One fan tweeted about the song: “So, Britney Spears’ Everytime is actually a lullaby for her unborn child with Justin Timberlake. This makes the meaning of the song a whole lot different now. She's drowning herself to be with her baby; that's my interpretation of the song & MV.”
“Everytime by Britney Spears has such a new meaning now. It being a lullaby saying how she needs her baby,” another said.
Britney and Justin met on the Mickey Mouse Club and dated from 1999 to 2002
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A third one added: “The Everytime instrumental sounding like a lullaby, the ’I guess I need you, baby’ part, a baby in the music video. This song explores her feelings of guilt surrounding her abortion.”
Everytime was one of the first songs that Britney wrote entirely by herself. “I wrote the whole thing from scratch on the piano. Musically there was no track or anything,” the star told Hip Online in 2003. She also shared that she explained to producer Guy Sigmouth how she wanted the song to sound.
Two decades after it was first released, the powerful song has recently re-entered the Top 100 US iTunes chart.
A source said that Justin Timberlake "has been focusing on his family" and doesn't want to "concern himself" with the memoir
Image credits: justintimberlake
In addition to revealing that Justin pushed for an abortion while they were dating, Britney mentions in her upcoming book that the *NSYNC star had an affair with an unnamed woman. The Circus singer doesn’t want to reveal her identity because the woman allegedly has a family now, TMZ reported.
While Justin hasn’t responded to the bombshell claims, a source told Entertainment Tonight that he and his wife, Jessica Biel, are not interested in getting involved in the conversation.
Furthermore, the upcoming memoir also mentions Justin cheating on her with "another celebrity"
"Justin has been focusing on his own family and trying not to concern himself with Britney’s memoir," the source said.
"In recent years, Justin has tried to be supportive of Britney from a distance. They dated so long ago, but he still has respect for her. Justin and Jessica just want everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past."
People reacted to the shocking revelations and the popstars' relationship
