Britney Spears was 'triggered' as Justin Timberlake took a jibe at her on stage

It has been over a month since singer Justin Timberlake seemingly took a jibe at former girlfriend- singer Britney Spears. Now recent reports claim that Timberlake's comments 'annoyed and triggered' Spears and hindered her 'recovery'.

Justin Timberlake's remark at one of his concerts came after Britney apologised to him for the revelations she made about their relationship in her 2023 memoir The Woman In Me. 

During an NYC concert, Timberlake had said he was "apologising to "absolutely f---ing nobody" before launching into his song "Cry Me a River". The song "Cry Me a River" was written about his split from Britney in the early 2000s.

Why Britney was annoyed

A source close to Spears told the US Weekly that, “Britney was annoyed after his onstage statement." 

The source further said that Britney's “turning point for her mental issues started when (Timberlake) broke up with her so many years ago”.

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She “thought they’d be together forever and have children", but "when he broke up with her, it shook her world.” The singer apparently started having problems soon after their breakup.

The two were a couple in the early 2000s. In recent years, the source claimed, they seemed to have made progress and moved on from their past. But when he made fun of her apology, it triggered her.

As per the source, “Those close to her wish Justin was more of a stand-up guy and would have just moved on because what he did really hinders her recovery.”

Why did Britney Spears apologise to Timberlake?

In January this year, Britney had shared a few videos of Justin's appearances on talk shows Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in an Instagram post and given a shout-out to his new project. 

"I wanna apologise for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry. I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake's new song Selfish. It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together, I laugh so hard??? (sic)" she had written.

Britney Spears seemingly reacts to Justin Timberlake's comment: Not sorry

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's relationship

Spears was 17 when she started dating Timberlake after they met on the Disney show The Mickey Mouse Club in 1999. They were together until 2002. In her book, Spears claimed that she had an abortion while dating the former NSYNC star because he was not ready to be a father. She had written, "If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn't want to be a father."

Also read: Justin Timberlake seemingly has this to say about Britney Spears' apology