Britney Spears is reminiscing about past relationships. On January 17, Spears took to Instagram to share a throwback photo with her ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, taken nearly 22 years ago. In July 2001, the former couple attended the Kids Challenge charity basketball game in Las Vegas, wearing Cavaliers jerseys with "Stinky" and "Pinky" emblazoned on the back.
"When we shoot hoops together... that's when the magic happens!!!" she captioned the post, without tagging Timberlake. The rest of her caption, however, seemed to have nothing to do with *NSYNC alums but instead a call for equality and normalcy. "I came out of my mother's womb just like we all did! Shhh... why do you always kick me out??? I'm equal to everyone!!!"
The Instagram post has now been deleted. The "Gimme More" singer began dating Timberlake in 1999, and the two rose to stardom after starring together in " The Mickey Mouse Club." The pair split in 2002 after three years together in an ultimately tumultuous split.
The exes have generally maintained a very friendly relationship over the years, with Spears even dancing to his song "Filthy" in a 2020 Instagram video. "P.S. I know 20 years ago we went through one of the worst breakups in the world...but hey, this man is a genius! Great song JT!!!!!," she wrote, prompting him to endorse it with emoji response. However, Timberlake has been criticized for his handling of Britney Spears post-breakup, especially after the 2021 premiere of the Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears , in which he appeared in the video Cry Me A River He described her as a liar, leading him to publicly apologize.
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Spears didn't comment at the time, but months later she revealed that she felt so harshly about their breakup that she was forced to give an interview to Diane Sawyer despite the split. "When I broke up a few years ago, one thing I never shared was that I couldn't speak afterward," she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. "I was shocked... My father and three men were very crappy to me. "They showed up on my doorstep when I could barely speak... Two days later they put Diane Sawyer in my living room Here... they forced me to speak! "
Spears' change of tone came in a March 2022 post in which she appeared to criticize Timberlake for using their breakup to promote his debut solo album, Justified , while also accusing her entire family of Taking advantage of her. "Your ex did the same thing...he used your name on his first album claiming you fucked him!!!" she wrote. Timberlake has yet to comment on her latest post.
