Britney Spears says ‘Cry Me a River’ media fallout portrayed her as a ‘harlot’ after Justin Timberlake split

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Britney Spears has said that the media fallout ignited by Justin Timberlake’s 2002 music video for his song “Cry Me a River” depicted her as a “harlot”. In her new memoir, in an excerpt obtained by The New York Times, Spears writes that the media attention that erupted in reaction to the video portrayed her as “a harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy”, when in reality, she recalls: “I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood.” In the song’s lyrics, Timberlake sings: “You don’t have to say, what you did/ I already know, I found out from him.” Spears said that in the video, “a woman who looks like me cheats on him and he wanders around sad in the rain”. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.” Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake photographed in 2002 Spears appeared to imply that she decided to get an abortion because that was what Timberlake, then the frontman of boyband NSYNC, wanted her to do. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.” “To this day, it’s one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life,” Spears said.