Justin Timberlake shares his support for Britney Spears following her conservatorship hearing
The "Cry Me A River" singer used Spears' spotlight once again, but this time to speak out against her mistreatment
Music News Britney Spears
Britney Spears publicly spoke out against her “abusive” 13-year long conservatorship for the first time in a court hearing yesterday. Among the many allegations against her legal team and her father Jamie Spears, one of the more shocking revelation was that Spears is forced to continue to using her IUD birth control. She is unable to take herself to the doctor for its removal. The singer also pleaded for more control over which therapist she continues to see and for a say in the medication she’s required to take.
“I’m not able to get married or have a baby, I have an [IUD] inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant,” Britney said at the hearing. “I wanted to take the IUD out so I could start trying to have another baby. But this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have any more children.”
Spears has been in a relationship with her current boyfriend, Sam Asghari, since 2016. The singer currently has two sons, Sean and Jayden Federline, ages 15 and 14, with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
“I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m okay and I’m happy,” Spears told the judge overseeing her conservatorship. “If I said that enough, maybe I’d become happy. … I’m in shock. I’m traumatized. … I’m so angry it’s insane.”
Support flooded in for the 39-year-old star who for the majority of her adult life has lacked control over her personal life, career, and finances. After yesterday’s hearing, one former-villain in Spears’ life spoke out in complete support for the end of her conservatorship: Justin Timberlake.
“After what we saw today, we should all be supporting Britney at this time,” he wrote on Twitter. “Regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it was… what’s happening to her is just not right. No woman should ever be restricted from making decisions about her own body.”
“No one should EVER be held against their will… or ever have to ask permission to access everything they’ve worked so hard for,” Timberlake continued, saying he and his wife Jessica Biel, “Send our love, and our absolute support to Britney during this time.”
Timberlake concluded, “We hope the courts, and her family make this right and let her live however she wants to live.”
Timberlake and Spears were one of the most highly publicized pop culture couples of the 2000s (who could ever forget their matching full-denim ensembles?). Timberlake’s used his relationship with Spears numerous times to continue his career, most notably being the release of his song “Cry Me A River,” which framed Spears as the “betrayer” in their relationship. Publications and its readers slut-shamed Spears and absolved Timberlake’s of his role in the end of their relationship. In the docu-series Framing Britney Spears, it was revealed Timberlake told interviewers that he had slept with Spears, in a time when media outlets obsessed over the hyper-sexualized pop star and her virginity. Following backlash after the release of the series in February, the former NSYNC-frontman apologized to Spears.
“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,” Timberlake wrote in an Instagram post. “I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism…I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
You did the right thing Timberlake… this time.
34 Comments
Oh, JT. Opportunists gonna opportune. I mean, the guy might feel bad for what he did, but I doubt he regrets the bank he made off of it.
… what?
I think it’s more like he doesn’t feel bad for what he did, because what he did was sing a few pop songs about a breakup that happened. Not a big deal.
Justin has to be relieved he got in that before she turned batshit crazy.
The only person whose opinion on Britney Spears I’m less interested in than Justin Timberlake’s is this asshole:
The way she’s been treated is like something out of a movie, I can’t believe it’s been allowed to continue so long.That said, note to Brittney: when you’re insisting you’re sufficiently stable to control your own affairs, try not to say “I’m so angry it’s insane.”
Leads me to believe these judges and lawyers for the state are neck deep in somw serious corruption.
If I had seen it in a movie, I would have thought that it was pushing it a bit.
It’s very difficult to understand how someone could be FORCED to continue to use a birth control.
Buck v Bell. It’s been on the books since *1927.*
If you can understand how a woman can be forced to give birth, you can understand this as well.
It’s easier to understand if you realize that an IUD can only be safely removed by a physician and she’s legally not allowed to consent to treatment on her own.
IUDs are internal. If you’re forcibly kept from going to the doctor, you can’t get it out.
Despite my inclination to skip all of this, I think she may actually be fine saying that.I just read that the attorney the court appointed for her years ago, the guy who never filed on her behalf to end this arrangement, has been billing up to $10,000 per WEEK to represent her this entire time.That’s comparable to what Enron execs have paid in the weeks leading up to criminal trials where they faced bankruptcy and prison.
She has had this guy drain millions from her for, by all accounts, almost no representation, and he was appointed to her.I realize there are probably a lot of blank spaces we don’t know about. But something is genuinely nuts about this, and while I am open to the possibility that Spears needs some kind of oversight, this is a story where the constraints on her — and the benefits for others — make no sense.
He comes out of the woodwork to apologize after all these years and he thinks he gets a vote.
A vote on what?
one the one hand i think its good for justin timberlake to use his massive platform to draw attention and support towards Britney’s cause, and I think if he had centered that around his own guilt or a self-serving apology it would have been fake, lame, and opportunisitic.on the other hand, maybe JT should have taken his own advice from his last album, which I listned to so you all don’t have to, where he says “Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all.”Still, I think its a net good for dude to be showing support.
Weighed against the years he he used her to gain album sales, slut shame her, and bring her name up out of nowhere when he needed attention?
I would be you one million dollars if he hadn’t offered support in, what at least to me is not self-aggrandizing nor does it center him instead of Britney, there’d be an article on the AV Club chastising his silence. Not that I’d feel bad for him, but its like a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. Yes, he did awful, terrible things to her and profited off her those terrible things immensely. I never said he didn’t. I said what I said, and I’d encourage you to read that again.To answer your question directly: yes.
I’d give him more understanding had he not been instrumental in the downfall of the careers and public perception of Britney and Janet Jackson, crowbarring his way in Michael Jackson’s legacy (while still ignoring JJ), and blatantly trampling allover Prince’s principles after he passed.Justin is just slimy and will always be slimy.
I’m not saying you or anyone should give him understanding, I’m just saying support from a slimy person (not that I think he’s a slimy person anymore) is still support and that’s valuable.
Yes, he did awful, terrible things to herDid he? This seems like a huge exaggeration. Are people not allowed to be mad at their ex and talk about their own personal lives in their music?
yeah, I think he did some greasy shit
Like what? I went through his rap sheet a few months ago when this whole thing came up after the documentary and I didn’t find any of it to be very convincing. He hinted in the press that she cheated on him. Bad if it was untrue, but I don’t see how it’s awful if it was true. He made an album about how he was mad at her and used a lookalike in the video. Seems pretty typical to me. Tons of artists have written break-up albums, complete with in-jokes about exes. Taylor Swift famously included hints to who she was talking about in the liner notes. I don’t consider any of that to be completely out of bounds. It just looks bad in retrospect because she had a mental breakdown,
look man I’m not going to tell you how to feel about Justin Timberlake, you’ll note I’m like commenting in vague support of something he did, so I’m not sure why you’re telling me how ‘not bad’ the dude’s actions are, there are more people with stronger convinctions you can have this fight with.
I’m not some Timberlake superfan or anything either. I’ve never really cared for his music. I just think it’s odd that the accepted narrative is that he did “awful, terrible things,” so I questioned why you believe that and what I could be missing that would rise to that level. If you don’t want to discuss it any further, that’s perfectly fine.
It’s funny to use the phrase “awful, terrible things” and then when pressed on it be like “dude I don’t even care leave me alone”. Absolute freak.
Yeah, this shit is so silly. I can’t believe a pop star wrote a couple of breakup songs! Wow!!!!! We’ve never seen this before!
That’s how I feel too. It looks bad in retrospect because she had a mental breakdown, but that’s not something he could have predicted.
Regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it wasThis part of his statement seems super unnecessary, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s the “look, let’s not mention bad stuff about me, okay?” preface
Put your money where your mouth is and advocate for disabled people in conservatorships, JT.Seriously though, they’re so abusive. And thanks to another historically shitty SCOTUS, it’s been legal to stop anyone deemed “unfit” from reproducing since *1927.*