Justin Timberlake Jabs at Britney Spears, Says He Wants to ‘Apologize to Absolutely F—— Nobody’

Before performing his famous song about his ex-girlfriend, Britney Spears, in New York, Justin Timberlake appeared to be taking a jab at the former pop star. Celebrating his 43rd birthday, Timberlake performed at Irving Plaza on January 31 as part of his One Night Only tour . Addressing the audience, Timberlake said, ‘I’m gonna take time to apologize, to absolutely f—— nobody!’ before beginning to sing the infamous song ‘Cry Me a River,’ which many suspect contains references to his relationship with Spears.

This came just days after Spears subtly apologized to him for revealing too much information about her relationship with Timberlake in her memoir The Woman in Me . Spears said in the book that she got pregnant while in a relationship with Timberlake but decided to get an abortion at his suggestion. “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears, now 41, writes of the pregnancy in the book, per PEOPLE . “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”

Spears, whose account is now private, wrote on Instagram on January 28, “I wanna apologize 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,” Spears added, “I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song Selfish it is so good.” Spears’s followers are incensed with Timberlake’s phrasing. Many noted that he failed to support Spears and Janet Jackson over the years of criticism and that in 2021 he wrote a long apology to them. Spears and Jackson were the performers at the notorious Super Bowl halftime show. “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 at the time.

“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. The industry is flawed,” he continued. “It sets men, especially white men, up for success. It’s designed this way. As a man in a privileged position, I have to be vocal about this.”

Fans took to X, to slam Timberlake for his sexist remarks. “CONFIRMED: Justin Timberlake is still a misogynistic piece of f—-ng sh-t. I don’t understand how y’all think this is “cool,” to publicly attack a woman for 20 years,” one person tweeted. Another user slammed him, “Lol this man is such a terrible person. He has no redeeming qualities. And the fact that he continues to appropriate and profit off Black culture for 20+ years even after Britney exposed him for being racist and using slurs.”