CNN
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Within the music world, old grudges die hard, particularly in relation to devoted followers of a selected artist.
On Friday, Britney Spears’ 2011 tune “Egocentric” – off her seventh album “Femme Fatale” from that 12 months – reached no. 1 on the US iTunes chart, topping a new song of the identical identify from her former boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who dropped his “Egocentric” observe simply the day earlier than.
On Saturday, Spears’ tune was nonetheless holding regular on the no. 2 spot on the chart, two slots forward of Timberlake at no. 4.
Why does this matter? Each a 2021 documentary titled “Framing Britney Spears” and a memoir by the singer revealed final 12 months, titled “The Girl In Me,” reframed and pulled again the covers on Spears’ very high-profile, decades-old romance with Timberlake, with whom she starred on the Mickey Mouse Membership as kids and later dated from 1999 to 2002.
Within the memoir, Spears talked about how the breakup of her relationship with Timberlake turned very public as a consequence of infidelity on her half, however what the general public didn’t know was that Timberlake had not been trustworthy both, Spears wrote within the memoir, and that she was conscious of his indiscretions.
She additionally mentioned how she had an abortion throughout her relationship with Timberlake, one thing she wrote she “by no means would have executed” if it have been as much as her alone. “To today, it’s one of the agonizing issues I’ve ever skilled in my life,” she added in her guide.
These revelations got here two years after the “New York Instances Presents” Hulu documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” which additionally renewed concentrate on her breakup with Timberlake and the way, on the time, the previous *NSYNC member was portrayed extra positively in the media narrative about their breakup whereas Spears was summarily vilified.
The documentary prompted Spears’ devoted fanbase – who turned galvanized in the course of the #FreeBritney movement towards the tip of her 13-year-long conservatorship – to name for an apology from Timberlake, which he did days after the doc’s premiere, writing on social media on the time, “I’ve seen the messages, tags, feedback and issues and I wish to reply.”
“I’m deeply sorry for the occasions in my life the place my actions contributed to the issue, the place I spoke out of flip, or didn’t converse up for what was proper,” he continued, later including, “I particularly wish to apologize to Britney Spears.”
Clearly, devotees of Spears are nonetheless rallying to point out assist for the “Piece of Me” singer.