Britney Spears covers this week’s People Magazine, giving the outlet an exclusive preview of her memoir, The Woman in Me. Britney spoke to People, talking about how she had to learn “this new freedom” following the end of her conservatorship in November 2021. She says she loves to travel, play with her dogs and watch Friends. She spoke about reclaiming her voice and finally being able to tell her story without feeling like she would have to face repercussions from her father and other people. One of the biggest stories from her memoir – thus far – is Britney’s description of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. According to Britney, Justin got her pregnant and they decided that she should get an abortion.
In her upcoming memoir The Woman in Me, the pop icon, 41, reveals that when she dated Justin Timberlake, she became pregnant with his baby but had an abortion, PEOPLE confirms.
“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,” Spears writes of the pregnancy in the book. “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.”
A rep for Timberlake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
She writes in the book: “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.”
Spears writes of her experience undergoing the abortion: “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”
I suspect that this pregnancy happened towards the end of their relationship, and perhaps this was the beginning of the end. Which would place this in the 2001-02 zone, meaning Britney and Justin were probably around 20 years old. I mean… they were too young, and Justin was and is a terrible person. He was right, he wasn’t ready to be a father and Britney wasn’t ready to be a mother. It does sound like he talked her into having the abortion. The thing that really sucks here is not the difficult decision made between two people who were too immature to be parents, it’s that Justin then smeared Britney as a cheater who broke his heart. When really, he got her pregnant and talked her into getting an abortion, then it’s likely the relationship fell apart soon after.
Previously, “sources” were talking about how Justin is very “concerned” about Britney’s memoir. I feel certain that this is not the only scandalous JT story.
Update: I just read TMZ’s story, their (publishing?) sources confirm that Britney was pregnant in late 2000, which means she was only 18/19 years old.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of People.
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- BRITNEY SPEARS AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE OF NSYNC AT THE 29TH ANNUAL AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS HELD AT THE SHRINE AUDITORIUM IN LOS ANGELES, CA. 09 JANUARY 2002.,Image: 547442344, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ron Wolfson / Avalon
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- , 2001 britney spears and boyfriend justin timberlake at the 28th American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA 1/8/2001 URW/,Image: 547460253, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ron Wolfson / Avalon
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- JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AND BRITNEY SPEARS ATTENDING A SUPER BOWL FUNDRAISER AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD TIMES SQUARE IN NEW YORK CITY. 03 FEBRUARY 2002,Image: 548451704, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dennis Van Tine / Avalon
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- ©/LONDON FEATURES 2001 BRITNEY SPEARS & JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE THE BRITNEY SPEARS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY AT CENTRO FLY. NOVEMBER 6, 2001 NEW YORK CITY,Image: 548458036, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dennis Van Tine / Avalon
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- New York 02/03/02 – Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake hosting a Super Bowl Fundraiser at Planet Hollywood and unveiling personally designed T-Shirts to benefit their charities “Britney Spears Foundation” and “Justin Timberlake Foundation” PH2706BO Featuring: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake Where: New York , NY , USA When: 24 Aug 2002 Credit: ALEX OLIVEIRAstartraksphoto.com
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- New York, 02/13/2002 – Britney Spears celebrates the release of her debut film “Crossroads” with a party at Planet Hollywood. Event to benefit the Britney Spears Foundation. Pictured: Britney Spears and her boyfriend *NSYNC’s Justin Timberlake. PH2755BK Photo by Startraks© Featuring: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake Where: New York, New York, United States When: 24 Aug 2002 Credit: ANDERS KRUSBERGSTARTRAKS PHOTO©
Justin is scared, his PM team immediately ran to Page Six with an article about his kids with Jessica Biel
I love this for him.
Exactly. Bless his little heart.
BettyRose, Same. I love this for him. And would just like to point out that he named his 2002 album “Justified,” which considering Britney’s memoir does sound good at all. Glad karma is finally helping Janet and Britney.
I don’t know why he bothers, everybody already knows he cheats. He publicly cheated on his wife not that long ago (with his co-star, right ?).
Yes, he was caught holding hands with his co-star from the movie Palmer.
He’s a mediocre POS.
Thank you! He sure is. A culture vulture, cheating, lying sack of crap. So happy to see him getting his comeuppance.
It sounds( sounded) difficult, but in case that Justin talked her into an abortion, that doesn’t mean she didn’t also cheat on him and break his heart. Doesn’t have to be one way or the other. He may have encouraged her to take one path, one that many young people of either gender would, and I think it’s positive they seemed to thoroughly discuss it and come to a mutual decision, but I understand how a bit heart-wrenching it may be to look back upon.
His treatment of her over the years has been terrible. I don’t care if she “broke his heart.” You don’t have to slander someone every chance you get. He should have had enough respect for what they had together. JT is a terrible person
This times a thousand
Every time I think Justin can’t get any lower he does. He’s treated very woman in his life like crap.
It’s very well known that Justin cheated on Britney, repeatedly. So I don’t know how Britney returning the favor broke his heart.
there is no way she broke his heart — his treatment of her would suggest that he never respected her, barely liked her, and certainly did not love her.
She broke his ego when she, allegedly, cheated on him back with Wade Robson (their shared choreographer). That’s why he acted like he did and trashed her for years – his ego couldn’t handle being treated the same way he treated others.
He’s slut shamed her and made barbed comments about her for years. YEARS. The relationship ended when they were 20? 21? If anyone in my life was still shit talking their high school/college freshman year partner as an adult, I’d steer clear of them. He’s an a*shole
I’m sure he’s nervous, but don’t they have to fact check things like this? I would think he would know about what’s in it? Maybe no. Whatever, I will read it. I had no idea she was coming out with a memoir!
I think the fact checking would be bare facts: “You got her pregnant and she got an abortion” maybe that he felt to young to be a father, but how he is portrayed is not part of the fact checking.
I don’t think there is a fact check here due to Justin being able to dispute the allegations. It would be different if he couldn’t. As @Loretta stated above, his team instead ran to tell the story of his current family life.
He always seemed douchey to me.
Justin knew this was coming, that’s part of why he freaked about the book. Kaiser wrote about that, got it held it up getting publishing because he *obviously* didn’t want something out there. Of course it could have gone down exactly like you said (although that’s not how Brittany portrays it), it’s the fact that he shit on her for years for publicity after what they went through that shows how bad of a f$ckboi he is.
His Hair is also a scandal
His hair is the one thing I am not mad about at this point…
This is heartbreaking because it does sound like she didn’t want the abortion and still regrets it to this day.
My guess is actually the relationship was already starting to fall apart and that was one of the reasons Justin didn’t want her to go through with the pregnancy.
I’m trying to play out in my mind the frenzy that would have happened had Britney gone through with the pregnancy and it became public that she was public with Justin Timberlake’s baby. It would have been MADNESS from a gossip standpoint.
It would have been madness, you’re right, because she was also publicly declaring that she was saving sex for marriage at that time. All these Southern pastors were talking about how ‘godly’ she was.
If she had announced a pregnancy before marriage, the press would have been insane.
It no doubt would have ended her career as well. She was supposed to be this good church-going girl who just happened to sing and dance to sexy songs, but really had a heart for Jesus (or some crap like that). She couldn’t have kept that brand alive while performing pregnant.
She was in tough spot, and my heart breaks for her.
Even without a pregnancy she was in a terrible spot being sexualized and heralded as a virgin. It was so gross. I’m not surprised in the slightest that she got pregnant and was pressured into an abortion. The psychological damage of her teen years so clearly still haunts her.
yeah, and look what being a teenager mother did to her sister and her career. while Jamie Lynn is certainly less talented than Britney, I think a similar situation would have happened.
@BettyRose (sorry I can’t seem to reply directly to your comment) you are so right about how disgusting it was that her virginal “status” was being discussed and dissected throughout the press. It was a constant media topic and it was about a very young woman. She didn’t have enough leverage with her management team and family to tell them to keep her private business out of the press, despite being their cash cow.
I remember commentary about her dancing being too sexy for a virgin, and articles devoted to saying that she couldn’t possibly be a virgin based on her dancing. I was completely disgusted by it at the time, and looking back, I’m even more disgusted.
I don’t know how she survived all of this. I don’t think I would have.
She was also not raised with a realistic view of what parenthood means because her own parents are garbage. She was hoping that a baby would solve all her issues with the relationship which is something 18 year olds tend to believe. TMZ is the one that busted out the word regret, so I think the actual book excerpt may provide more context to this situation.
At the end of the day she was not in a place to be a parent at age 18 even with all her money. So while I am not a fan of Timberlake and he treated her like garbage especially during the breakup and aftermath, this was actually a good decision to get an abortion.
If the relationship was falling apart and he was dead set against fatherhood, plus concerned about public frenzy should any pregnancy happen, then little boy band boy should of been wrapping it up and ensuring their were birth control precautions on both sides, honestly, speaking as dude. This is still on him. (Fuck if you’re that dead set against kids at the time and that rich, get a vasectomy.)
And I have a very strong feeling this wasn’t some fluke thing were multiple birth control layers failed but the little player probably like raw dogging and left the birth control up to her, like the pill, instead of being proactive on his side too which would have lessened his pleasure. He just seems like that type.
@HeyJude This happened in 2000. Their relationship was probably fine at that time. He was too young for a vasectomy in my opinion, but he probably wasn’t using condoms. He should have been. Unfortunately most guys are “that type” that leave the birth control responsibility solely on their partner. It’s part of the reason STIs are so high.
I’m pretty sure her management team also pushed her into getting an abortion and paid for it, but it reads more interesting if she leaves them out and just mentions Justin. Her and Justin worked constantly back then and were raking in huge amounts of money. N*SYNC sold a record-breaking amount of cds that year. This pregnancy would have greatly slowed down if not destroyed her career completely. Neither of them had time to see a kid let alone raise one.
I’m not surprised by this revelation at all. As Kaiser said what’s even worse is Justin smeared Britney and I’ll add, used her to launch his solo career after that.
It sounds like the best decision for all involved. But I very much hope that it was a matter of Justin and Britney thoroughly discussing it and eventually coming to a mutual agreement that they weren’t ready, as opposed to Justin manipulating or strong-arming her into it.
Now let’s sit back and wait for the anti-choice shills to trace all of Britney’s mental health struggles on her having an abortion. You know it’s coming.
This is what I’m worried about, too. As a former Planned Parenthood counsellor who initiated a reproductive coercion program (this is when someone manipulates, threatens, or deceives a pregnant person into making a decision about their pregnancy that the pregnant person did not want, including becoming pregnant in the first place – condoms JT?!?!) I am genuinely heartbroken for Britney and now I hate JT with the fire of a thousand suns.
Really? It sounded like the best decision for everyone but Britney. Justin didn’t want to be a father, her team and her family didn’t want their cash cow sidelined, but Britney wanted the baby. That song/video “Everytime” was about the abortion in hindsight.
That said, it wasn’t the abortion that was the source of her mental health problems. It was one of the many examples of her not being able to have any autonomy of her body and her life choices. And as douchey as Justin is, I seriously doubt he was the only one telling her to get an abortion.
That’s why I said that I hoped it truly was a mutual decision arrived at after a soul-searching discussion. Ideally, that would’ve involved considering exactly why she wanted to have the baby, and given what we now know about Britney’s family, it could be that she was simply thinking becoming a mother = autonomy. She absolutely deserved autonomy as much as anyone else her age, of course, but a desire to escape your overbearing stage parents is not a great reason to have a baby, especially when those parents also deliberately ensured that she wasn’t even remotely prepared for adulthood, much less motherhood.
It definitely doesn’t sound like a mutual decision from the excerpt. She specifically says that she would not have made this decision if she had been allowed to decide for herself and that it was agonizing.
But is that just her recounting of her thoughts at the time? Those aren’t uncommon feelings for girls and women in similar situations, many of whom consider it the right decision in hindsight. I think we need more context than the quoted excerpt gives us; specifically, the details of how Justin talked her into it are going to be pretty crucial (though given that it’s Justin we’re talking about, it’s sadly understandable to assume the worst). I’m also curious as to what she meant by it being “agonizing”. The way People quotes her, it kinda sounds like she was describing the procedure itself as agonizing, like perhaps actual medical complications? But that interpretation could admittedly be the result of a combination of awkward wording by People, and me having read it just after waking up.
I do apologize that my comment may have come across as patronizing or presumptuous about what was “best” for Britney. What I’ve just said here and in my response to Snuffles was in my brain when I wrote my initial comment, but again, it was early and I definitely could’ve been clearer!
Someone on Facebook made a point that I thought was really interesting about how this plays into the Britney/Jamie Lynn dynamic: Jamie Lynn also gets pregnant at a young age and is able to keep her baby, a choice that Britney clearly doesn’t think that she had (because of Justin, because of her status as family cash cow).
Ooh, that is a really good point. I think Britney said she was 19 when this happened. Jamie Lynn was 16 and kept her baby. But Britney was the star in that family, she had to keep the Spears family swimming in money.
I didn’t even think of that! That must’ve been incredibly difficult for her to live through. Neither of them were old enough to be a parent, but it sounds like only one of them had any control over their own life.
Both the Spears parents are narcs and I think Jamie Lynn was the golden child (she was spoiled esp by the father and has always expected fame and opportunities to be handed to her), the brother was the ignored one and Britney was the one that was used and abused by both parents. She was never going to be allowed to have free will – she was groomed from a young age to be the family cash cow (Lynne pretty much admits to this in her books).
Am interested in what she has to say about her family and Kfed!!!!!!!
Britney has a brother?!?!
An older brother, Bryan Spears. He was co-producer of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 and other Jaime Lynn projects and seems to be the only one who went to college.
I’m mortified to admit I recently read Jamie Lynn’s book (I was trying to put a hold on Britney’s new book at my library and JL’s ebook came up as available so I thought why not). In it, she wrote about how much pressure she got from her parents and management to terminate her pregnancy. In the end, she got a lawyer to draw up emancipation papers and when they were presented to her mother, her mother relented and agreed to be supportive. But what was really interesting is apparently JL wasn’t “allowed” to even tell Britney she was pregnant — they were afraid of “upsetting” Britney. So basically Britney didn’t find out about it until the rest of the world did. Of course JL painted herself as the victim (she didn’t have her big sister’s support when she needed it the most) and didn’t consider how Britney would have felt being kept in the dark.
Between the global fame, the abuse at Nickelodeon, and two TERRIBLE parents, those Spears kids never stood a chance. The teen pregnancy cycle is extremely difficult to break, and I see it continued with both Britney and Jamie Lynn.
FWIW, there is/was a lot of young, famous woman who have abortions. Especially in the early 2000s when the world became obsessed with pop princesses and celeb gossip culture.
Yes, I could also see Britney feeling angry that Jamie Lynn had the strength to fight, and Britney had felt she couldn´t fight 🙁 Jamie Lynn fought for her emancipation and for what she thought was right (keeping the baby). Also if I remember right, JL´s baby-daddy was actually a lot more supportive than Justin was with Brit? (in general, and with regard to keeping the baby). I could see Britney feeling resentment, anger and pain about it all; it was hard for JL too though as both their parents are utter trash. Britney was also under MUCH more pressure due to her superstardom.
I also remember JL was pregnant right in the middle of Britneyś huge breakdown. So I don´t think Britney was in touch much with her parents or family, she had just lost her own boys and was partying/spiralling. I think it´s why JL wasn´t allowed to tell her. Both sisters were in crisis mode and I think Britney would have been unreachable and unable to support JL during those times anyway, sadly.
Sadly, I can’t say I am shocked by any of this. And I don’t mean having an abortion. Learning that Justin was a total POS…yeah, not shocked at all.
They were both quite young. Unfortunately men mature a slower rate than women do. So Justin was like a 15 year old even though chronologically he was 19 or 20 years old.
Doesn’t explain why he spent the next 10-15 years giggling about how he hit it and took her virginity. Insinuating she was a bitch. Slut shaming her. He kept that up for a v long time and only apologized after that documentary about Britney came out. His apologies only come out after it becomes a conversation. Which fine. I can give people the grace to get better but that’s not what’s happening here. Not so far.
I wonder if part of her regret now, looking back, has to do with her recent struggle to get pregnant, her miscarriage, and all of the “lost years” of her conservancy where she was reportedly put on birth control against her will. I think given that, it would be normal to feel some longing for what could have been.
But seeing this from the outside, knowing only that 1) they were both 20 and at the peak of their fame 2) what a jerk he seems to be and 3) that they undoubtedly would have been forced to marry right away, I can’t help but think that things worked out for the better.
The abortion happened in “late 2020”. Britney would have been 18, going on 19 then.
I agree, they were way too young, but still a tough decision they had to make. Sounds like Britney isn’t sure she made the right one. The “What ifs” of having an abortion haunt some people for the rest of their life.
I’m just speculating of course but maybe the pregnancy would have been Britney’s way out? Her life would have been much different if she had the baby. I’m sure she liked performing and all but a baby would have given her a reason to settle down for a bit, or a least take a break. She’s been performing since she was a child and never really took a breath since she got famous. She was young but I just have this thought that going through with might have been good for her.
I agree. Britney wanted off the treadmill or at least a break from it.
This is so sad, the Everytime video was about her baby, the JT came out with Cry Me A River. So he pulled the NSYNC card and NOW there’s a reunion? We see you Justin.
Also, where is Britney? That cover picture is from Britney Brands. The questions from that interview was from an email- not in person- answered by Britney Brands., then the editor from People went on morning TV and spoke about the book? WHERE IS BRITNEY??
Have you checked her tik tok? Or IG? I’m not being snarky at all. She’s a regular poster so if she went dark there ….
Maybe she’s finally on a long ass retreat away from social media, with Sandy beaches and yoga and guided meditation and lots and lots of therapy. God I want that for her. And me frankly. 😂
Justin sound d bag and i think this might one of the reason for her spiral and mental breakdown. Many pro choice woman wont address this issue , many woman who had abortion live with guilt and mental illness surrounding that trauma. I wish many care given to woman after abortion. These things haunt many woman till the end, I know someone regret their abortion and always wonder what that baby will turn out something like that.
A 2020 study showed that over 95% said it was the right decision and that 84% of women don’t regret having an abortion 5 years later.
The majority of women DO NOT regret their decision to have an abortion. Also having an abortion is not traumatic nor does it cause mental illness. Please don’t use Brittany as an excuse to spout off anti choice nonsense.
Try this—the functional word in pro-choice is “choice”. If anything, it sounds like Britney was traumatized by not being allowed to make her own choice. If Britney wanted to continue with her pregnancy, she should have been able to do so, and supported in that choice. That’s what being pro-choice means. Britney’s lack of autonomy over her body and her choices has been perhaps the most obvious recurring theme in her life. Anybody who is pro choice would be moved by that.
And then see above to Pointillist’s reply.
This. It was her choice to make, not his.
When I was young and got a free pregnancy test from a place that was an undercover anti-abortion operation, they terrified me with talk like this (You couldn’t get the results until you listened to their lies). That an abortion would haunt me forever, and I would be experience a lifetime of regret.
Bullshit. It was the best decision I ever made. Not everyone is suited to be a parent, and sometimes the circumstances or timing is wrong for people that are well suited to be parents.
I’m so happy for you that you were able to make that choice and get the abortion you chose.
Same here, never regretted my abortion. His family did try the whole “we’ll adopt the baby!” and he just so happened to cheat on me right around the time I would have been giving birth and ended up getting another girl pregnant. She kept the baby and oh wouldn’t you know, his parents ended up caring for the baby for a while.
And now I am able to be a fully present and productive mom to my 7 year old. I almost died when I was pregnant with him and have no doubt I would not have survived my first pregnancy. I only made it through the one with my son because I had a partner who would do absolutely anything for me and was great at supporting me and getting me what I needed at that time. No way 2008 dude would have done any of that.
So yep, best decision ever for me.
The point of being pro choice is that the woman gets to decide what to do with her body.
If Britney didn’t get to really decide – ie she had no autonomy which we all know was the case – that could be incredibly painful. ESP if to her – and it truly seemed like it – she wanted the baby and had started to bond with it so to speak.
The problem doesn’t arise from abortion. It arrises from coercion and the complete lack of autonomy she had.
Is a baby at 18 a good idea? No. Unequivocally no. But that’s not our choice to make. And she can hold both things. That a baby at that age would have ruined her entire life but also that she wanted that baby and was coerced into having an abortion. Both can be equally true.
I don’t think it had to due with the abortion specifically and we need to be careful about playing in pro-life doomsday narratives, but it was the compounding situation- Justin treated her like shit, she thought this man loved her and was going to spend forever with her and he insisted they terminate their baby. That had to be a massive blow. I’m sure everyone involved in her life also pushed her heavily to terminate. Then the aftermath of the relationship breaking down and Timberlake dragging her through the mud with one of the most famous songs of the time when she was still completely emotionally raw. It was total emotional torture. Her career also never was quite the same after that too. The abortion only played a small part in what was a horrendous era for her. I’m also pretty positive she did not receive any appropriate mental healthcare to manage these issues judging by the way the same people around her then eventually stuck her into a conservatorship.
Sick of what men get away with behind closed doors. If Britney actually cheated on him then that is a shame, but to publicly use that as part of your ‘wronged man’ narrative and hype for your first single when THIS was part of their relationship is disgusting. Justin you should be nervous! Love these men getting their comeuppance once women become brave enough to use their voice. Britney tell your truth girl!
This is so on brand for JT. What a total jerk. I feel so sad for Britney that she had to be in a situation where she wasn’t able to make the choice she wanted to make; that she had zero support from her partner nor family. JT has also publicly cheated on Jessica Biel, right? There were those pics with that costar (?) a few years ago or something? He is the worst. LOVE the comment that he used the breakup and trashed Britney to launch himself. 100%. Ugh. Poor Britney. I am someone who believes a fetus is a human life, but I agree with others above that it will be beyond stupid of the pro-life crazies say this abortion is the source of Britney’s breakdown and mental health struggles. Absolutely not. Britney has been through so much – I genuinely hope she’s doing well and is happy.
Justin used Britney to advance himself and make him look good by constantly disrespecting her. Knowing what she went through and his continuing to pile on her is almost unforgivable. He’s a horrible person and I hope he gets everything he deserves.
ITA. If you look back over the years Justin has left human wreckage behind him wherever he goes. He *uses* people and then discards them. Lance Bass said in his book that Britney truly loved Justin, but Justin only loved his career. Yeah, he’s hyping an NSYNC reunion now because he has dad bod and people are losing interest in him. He is all about Justin and to Hell with everyone else.
ITA – this will be a big image hit for him and am sure there is more. Just look at how he treated his bandmates – karma do you worst with him.
Spot on girl_ninja!
Just here to remind all men who are not ready to be fathers that condoms are a thing. So is celibacy, for that matter.
And vasectomies can be reversed!
I couldn’t agree more with your statement. I don’t know Britney or Justin personally but I am pretty sure they were both hurt deep inside. Abortion is a very serious decision to make for any woman and he must have been so saddened knowing that his unborn child’s life was terminated. There both lost something dear.
While I agree in general why do people assume that they didn’t use protection? The only 100% effective birth control is celibacy.
Suspect if this happened now they or at least Britney would have kept the baby. Celebs getting pregnant young without marrying or marrying are pretty common now and there is lesser stigma i.e. look at Kylie.
Anyway he’s always been an idiot. I’m so sorry Britney. I hope you weren’t alone when you did it. I hope the pro life crazies stay off her but they’re crazy anyway.
I’m certain that I am seeing this differently than most, but I don’t understand why he is the only one at fault for a pregnancy that was the result of two people’s actions and inactions. She was 19 and not taking birth control, even though we know she was forced to take it much later in life because of a controlling family? And he is being accused of not using a condom because a pregnancy happening even though we know that condoms aren’t always 100% affective? The point is that two people decided to be sexually active with each other and the result of that was a pregnancy, shouldn’t two people be responsible for that pregnancy, instead of just the guy? An abortion happened after a discussion by both parties, but the only one being blamed for it is the guy, why? Discussions like that happen all of the time and hopefully most times it’s an agreed upon decision, but in the cases where it isn’t, the woman doesn’t always have to go by what the guy wants. So in part, the woman has the option to not go ahead with an abortion that she doesn’t necessarily want, so to only place blame on the guy, it seems unfair. He might be a jerk, but to place all the blame on him for a pregnancy and an abortion, that seems very unfair. It is also unfair to assume he was the only one cheating or that this pregnancy and abortion means that she didn’t also cheat or that his heart wasn’t broken from this relationship. They both could have been responsible for all that happened in the relationship and the heartbreak of each other.
He’s not being blamed for the pregnancy. He’s being rightfully excoriated for pressuring her into an abortion she may not have wanted, against a background of a Spears family we have reason to believe was not supportive of her making independent choices, and then using his public platform to paint her as primarily responsible for their breakup as “the cheater”. 20 years on and we have a lot more information about these two upon which to draw conclusions about their relationship and its dynamics, based upon which Cry Me a River comes off as a hatchet job.
This is extremely black and white thinking.
People can be coerced into things. She was 17 ish. Under extreme pressure from society and family.
Her mom was a young mom, so that idea was not foreign to her.
Having your boyfriend push you into having an abortion where you felt like you had no control would be very hard. Maybe she felt she had to do it to keep him, who knows.
JT has a history of bad behavior, manipulation, emotional abuse, etc.
Yes if all things were equal with two real adults, then I understand a bit what you’re saying.
You just are taking all the nuance out.
Nerd, I see what you’re saying – two people were definitely involved in the sexual relationship that results in a baby. However….with that same black and white thinking, maybe JT shouldn’t have risked having sex if he didn’t want the baby. Birth control is never 100% effective; there’s always a chance, so be responsible for the choice you made then. Don’t abandon your partner because you got her pregnant.
So the purity rings were a lie? 😭😭😭
I don’t think she wore a purity ring. Those were popular in the mid-late 2000’s. I agree the whole public purity trend was gross, but yes it wasn’t true in most cases. I think the only people who actually did wait until marriage were Jessica Simpson and Kevin Jonas. And all that did was cause them to get married very young. So imo nothing good really came out of it.
Poor Brittney, she was treated so terribly by the media, her family and most of all this d-bag. I don’t feel one damn bit sorry for him, I hope he gets ROASTED…. My God, being a child star is the worst!
I feel sorry for her,
It’s heartbreaking.
It’s a heartbreaking situation. She was too young to be a mother and he was too young to be a father, so he wasn’t wrong about that. I think there are people that age who can, with support, manage early parenthood; but JT certainly was not one of them. Still, she clearly felt coerced. To have him then trash her to the media for years had to feel like such a betrayal.
Her sister did manage to have something of a career after she had her baby at 16. It was nothing close to what Britney’s was and was never going to be. The reality is Britney really didn’t have a choice. Her partner was not on board with her having a baby, her parents almost certainly weren’t, and it would have wreaked havoc on her image and on the career the family needed and expected to keep them all in the money.
It’s not having a choice, and not feeling prioritized and supported, that is so difficult to bear.
Firstly I don’t blame Justin for not wanting to be a dad at 19, however I do blame him for his actions towards Britney afterwards, and the fact he built a career off shaming her in public.
I did guess that that this might have happened years ago, because their break up came as a sudden shock to both of them.
Anyway my theory is Justin talked her into the abortion, made a load of false promises etc. I think from Justin’s perspective, he didn’t anticipate britneys grief regarding the loss of their child and he couldn’t handle it. From Britney’s perspective she gave up her baby for a guy who didn’t live up to his promises. I think she deeply regrets the abortion because she probably feels duped and manipulated into going along with it. She chose him and he left anyway.
I think they were probably really happy before it, but they both saw a different side to each other afterwards and they were never the same again.
Anyway Justin is a terrible person for letting Britney take the blame for their break up knowing that she was grieving for a baby she lost because of him. Not to mention the sly slut shaming regarding their sex like. Just look at britneys face during that awful Diana sawyer interview, you can see her pain.
I agree with you. Also we are getting twisted versions of stories from TMZ and this is no different than how the British media excerpted Harry’s book and then the actual excerpts ended up being so different.
There seems to be a political agenda presenting this as abortion regret and it serves a certain audience for this stuff. The same group who lapped up the virgin nonsense.
This doesn’t exonerate Justin’s immature actions, especially the cheating and the breakups, but this is going to be used as a tool for the anti choice people, and there has already been a troll posting here on that.
Does anyone else keep checking his IG to see if he turns comments off? He’s getting absolutely roasted.
This story is so of the time and place. Two kids from the south raised in peak purity church culture who also think pregnancies are god’s will. The “this is just sooner than we planned” line of thinking is such a familiar one to me. That’s what all the teen parents said back then. This also just happens to people who don’t have a firm grasp on birth control. I do hope that Britney wasn’t coerced or forced. Justin is such an archetype of major douche who used to be hot.
Who knows? Jamie Lynn’s career went down the drain with her pregnancy. Britney could have had that outcome… it could have been a blessing in disguise. Stopping her being used by her family, maybe, maybe going a different life route less damaging for her, another life path. What if…
I don’t care for JT but if she wanted to keep that baby she could’ve and there’s nothing he could’ve done about it. She chose not to. Which is fine as it’s her choice. I don’t like the framing that JT made her get one and she had no agency in the matter.
That being said none of this discounts the fact JT is an ass especially how he treated her afterwards.
I agree.
I don’t see how he could have actually forced her to get one. It’s not like he has the skills to actually do the procedure on her…
She probably could have run away and had the baby somewhere in Switzerland, or, heck even any state of her choosing. What could he really do to her? She wasn’t poor, and at the time wasn’t completely incapable of taking measures into her own hands.
Britney said she wouldn’t have chosen the abortion. Given that I wonder if her two very close in time pregnancies impacted her mental health. My sister had an abortion at about the same age. Like Brit, it wasn’t her preference but she’d (thought) made peace with it. When she had her son it triggered a whole wave of suppressed emotion including sorrow, guilt, imagining the child at the age they’d be then, an inability to attach herself to her newborn, etc. Thankfully she was able to get through it. (This was decades ago so the discourse around abortion, not to mention the post partum period, was much, much different.)
Britney obviously has a number of other issues but she seemed to go really off the rails soon after her kids were born.
I have always thought JT was gay. In photos he never looks interested in the woman he is with, cf. Britney, Alyssa Milano, and Jessica. Don’t get me started on the way he treated Janet Jackson. The only time he looked engaged was when he was hanging out with Jimmy Fallon riding together on a moped.
Not sure if anyone remembers but the song she wrote about Justin, “Everytime” but it shows her watching a lady holding her newborn baby in the hospital at the end after she dunks her head under in the bathtub. Wonder if there’s a connection?
I don’t understand why Britney didn’t have the baby on her own. She had the wealth to take care of the baby and to get as much help as she could want or need. If it was that horrible for her and against her heart to have the abortion, I fail to see why she couldn’t have had and raised the kid on her own. Although, she did seem at the time, quite obedient to Justin with no ability to stand up for what she thought or felt so that may be why.