Justin Timberlake is “concerned” about his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears’ forthcoming memoir, multiple sources tell Page Six exclusively.
“He’s very curious what she’ll reveal from their relationship,” one source explains. “It’s eating at him.”
However, contrary to a recent Us Weekly report that Spears’ bombshell book, “The Woman in Me” (out Oct. 24), goes after Timberlake “hard,” a publishing insider insists it is “not a takedown” of anyone.
“This is Britney finally getting a chance to tell her empowering story,” the insider tells us, “and it’s nothing more than that.”
Reps for Spears, Timberlake and publisher Simon & Schuster did not respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
The former couple had a high-profile breakup in 2002 after three years of dating.
At the time, Timberlake, now 42, shared during an interview with Barbara Walters that he had made a pact with Spears, now 41, not to “say specifically why” they went their separate ways.
But when pressed about tabloid rumors that Spears had cheated on him, Timberlake did not try to clear her name.
“Honestly, we’re not perfect,” he cryptically said. “I don’t judge anybody.”
Spears also danced around the gossip when Diane Sawyer asked her point-blank what she had done wrong in the relationship during their own TV sit-down the following year.
“I think everyone has a side of their story to make them feel a certain way … and I’m not technically saying he’s wrong, but I’m not technically saying he’s right either,” she said of her ex implying she had been unfaithful.
Spears and Timberlake famously released a pair of breakup anthems at the time, too.
After the *NSYNC member sang, “It wasn’t like you only talked to him and you know it” in his song “Cry Me a River,” the “Crossroads” star responded with “Everytime,” which featured the lyrics “I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song’s my sorry.”
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Spears and Timberlake eventually moved on, but after the 2021 New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears” resurfaced his controversial “20/20” interview, he faced renewed backlash and was forced to issue a belated apology to his former flame.
“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” the “Mirrors” crooner wrote on Instagram, acknowledging that he had “failed” the “Gimme More” singer despite his “respect” for her.
“I know this apology is a first step and doesn’t absolve the past,” he continued. “I want to take accountability for my own missteps in all of this. … I can do better and I will do better.”
Spears evidently did not accept Timberlake’s mea culpa, however, as she called him out in a since-deleted Instagram post in 2022 for “using [her] name” when he released “Cry Me a River.”