Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were the golden couple of the late \u201890s and early 2000s for good reason. At one point, in the thick of their romance, Spears literally said \u201che\u2019s everything\u201d about Timberlake. (Don\u2019t worry, he gushed about her plenty, too.) <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, things didn\u2019t end quite so happily between the two of them. After the couple announced their breakup in March 2002, they quickly transitioned from being lovey-dovey to downright shady. Looking back at Spears and Timberlake\u2019s relationship timeline is super sad.<\/p>\n
In the fall of 2002, the former couple started trading a series of public barbs that are hard to see \u2014 Timberlake\u2019s comments, in particular, were cutting. Post-breakup, the NSYNC frontman decided to publicize the intimate details of his sex life with Spears. It was… not a good look, especially considering that up until that point, Spears had publicly refused to comment on those aspects of their relationship and said that she planned to wait until marriage for sex.<\/p>\n
So how did these former lovebirds get to that point \u2014 and where do they stand now? Spears and Timberlake\u2019s relationship is a bit of a doozy, but here are the highlights (and lowest lows).<\/p>\n 1999: They Confirmed Their Romance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Spears and Timberlake first met while filming The Mickey Mouse Club<\/em> in 1992, but they didn\u2019t actually confirm their romance until 1999. Their relationship was a long time coming, though, especially if you ask JT.<\/p>\n Per Us Weekly<\/em>, he told GQ<\/em> in 2006, \u201cI was in love with her from the start<\/a>. I was infatuated with her from the moment I saw her.\u201d Nothing like falling for your childhood crush.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n January 2001: They Sported Double Denim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In what might be the most iconic JT-Britney moment, the two wore matching all-denim outfits<\/a> to the American Music Awards in 2001. Although this photo opp has become the source of infinite Halloween costume inspo for couples everywhere, Timberlake kind of wishes everyone could forget about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI confess that there was maybe a period in the ’90s where I could skip over some of the outfits that were public, but the internet will never,\u201d he told The Hollywood Reporter <\/em>in February 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n September 2001: They Started Living Together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During an interview with The Guardian in 2001, Spears said that their relationship was getting very serious, explaining that Timberlake \u201clives at her house with her<\/a> when he’s in LA.\u201d <\/p>\n She added at the time, \u201cI’m not ashamed at all to say that I love him from the bottom of my heart. As far as love is concerned, with him, too much is not enough.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n March 2002: They Broke Up<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Spears and Timberlake shocked fans when they broke up in March 2002<\/a>, and they were interviewed about it repeatedly in the months following. <\/p>\n In November 2002, Timberlake revealed some details of their split to Barbara Walters. “I remember when we decided we were going to go our separate ways, we sat down and I said to her, ‘If there’s ever a moment where you ever need me, you can rest assured that I will be there, because I love you as a person and I will always love you,\u2019\u201d he said, per Us Weekly<\/em>. He also \u201c<\/em>promised her that [he] wouldn’t say specifically why [they] broke up.” He also laughed when Walters asked about their sex life. <\/p>\n Despite Timberlake’s words, the breakup was tough for Spears to swallow. In December 2021, the \u201cToxic\u201d singer opened up about her post-breakup emotions in a since-deleted Instagram. \u201cSomething I never shared when I had that big breakup<\/a> years ago was that I couldn’t talk afterwards. I never spoke to anyone for a very long time,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n September 2002: Justin Opened Up About Their Sex Life<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During an interview with The Star & Buc Wild Morning Show<\/em>, Timberlake was asked, \u201cDid you f*ck Britney Spears<\/a>?\u201d It was a loaded question, considering how publicly Spears had spoken about wanting to wait to have sex until after marriage. Still, that didn\u2019t stop Timberlake from answering (even if it should have). \u201cOh man,\u201d he responded. \u201cOK, I did it!\u201d (Gross.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n November 2002: Justin Released The \u201cCry Me A River\u201d Music Video<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite what Timberlake said to Walters about staying mum on the reasons behind their split, he didn\u2019t keep to his word. That same month, he released his \u201cCry Me A River\u201d music video<\/a>, which told a very different story of their breakup and pointed the blame squarely in Spears\u2019 direction. To make the message crystal-clear, he cast a Spears lookalike to play the role of his cheating ex-girlfriend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n July 2003: Britney Responded To Justin\u2019s Comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In an interview with W Magazine<\/em>, Spears responded to Timberlake\u2019s comments<\/a> \u2014 and she was understandably not happy about them. \u201cI\u2019ve only slept with one person my whole life,\u201d she explained at the time, per <\/em>CBS News, adding that she did wait \u201dtwo years into [her] relationship with Justin\u201d to have sex.<\/p>\n She explained her disappointment with Timberlake\u2019s comments: \u201cI thought he was the one. But I was wrong! I didn\u2019t think he was gonna go on Barbara Walters and sell me out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n February 2021: Justin (Finally) Apologized<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Following the Framing Britney <\/em>documentary, which highlighted Timberlake\u2019s unflattering comments, the actor received plenty of feedback. On Feb. 12, he responded to the criticism by finally apologizing to Spears, as well as Janet Jackson.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond<\/a>,\u201d he wrote on Instagram. \u201cI 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. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n August 2021: Britney Quoted Justin On Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Spears didn\u2019t respond to Timberlake\u2019s apology \u2014 at least, not publicly. But she did reference her ex in an Instagram caption in August 2021, writing, \u201cAs JT would say<\/a> … haters gonna say it\u2019s fake !!!!!\u201d The picture was a photo of a large cat, though, so there didn\u2019t seem to be any hidden meaning to her post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n October 2023: Britney Wrote About Justin In Her Memoir<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Spears\u2019 memoir<\/a>, out Oct. 24, is reportedly full of surprising revelations about her and Timberlake\u2019s three-year relationship. According to her, she and Timberlake both cheated on each other<\/a> throughout the course of their relationship. Per Us Weekly<\/em>, she cheated once<\/a> with choreographer Wade Robson, and Timberlake cheated \u201ca couple of times\u201d<\/a> with different women. <\/p>\n![\"Britney](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2021\/12\/29\/4007eff5-a193-48a8-b1a2-c84416e13546-getty-1233749476.jpg?w=760&h=1161&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
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