Britney Spears live: Justin Timberlake back under scrutiny over abortion ahead of book release
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Britney Spears’s forthcoming memoir is already sending shockwaves through the entertainment world, days before its official release date.
Titled The Woman in Me, Spears’s autobiography is scheduled for release on Tuesday (24 October). It is published by Simon and Schuster in the UK.
But between the highly anticipated book being serialised by People and reports that The Woman in Me has been accidentally put on sale in Mexico this week, many revelations have already begun spilling out.
Among the biggest headlines to come out of the book so far are claims that Spears had an abortion while she was dating Justin Timberlake.
She also detailed the aftermath of their split, from the fallout from Timberlake’s hit song “Cry Me a River” to her fling with Irish actor Colin Farrell.
One subject that reportedly won’t feature in The Woman in Me, however, is Spears’s recent divorce from ex husband Sam Asghari after 14 months of marriage.
According to reports, Spears gave her final sign-off to Simon and Schuster mere weeks before it was announced that Asghari had filed for divorce, meaning she has “no right to demand any further changes”.
Key Points
How to buy The Woman in Me
Britney Spears says writing her book was ‘so hard'
Britney Spears reveals she had abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
Sam Asghari says he’s already read Britney Spears’s memoir: ‘I’m definitely excited'
A timeline of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari’s relationship, from dating to divorce
21:00 , Inga Parkel
Ahead of the release of Britney Spears’ highly-anticipated memoir, The Woman in Me, much attention has been focused on her previous relationship with her ex-husband, Sam Asghari.
In August, it was announced that the pop star, 41, and the Iranian-American model, 29, were divorcing after nearly seven years together. Just 14 months earlier, Spears and Asghari were married in what he described as a “fairytale” backyard wedding ceremony. However, a number of rumours emerged around Spears’s alleged infidelity, while tabloids claimed that Asghari was attempting to renegotiate their prenuptial agreement – but his representative later denied this was the case.
Here is a timeline of Spears and Asghari’s relationship, from meeting on the set of her music video to their split.
A timeline of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari’s relationship, from dating to divorce
Spears and Asghari announced their divorce in August 2023 after 14 months of marriage
How many children does Britney Spears have?
20:30 , Inga Parkel
The “Toxic” singer has two sons – Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden, 17 – from her second marriage with ex-husband Kevin Federline. They were married from 2004 to 2007.
For the complete timeline of Spears and Federline’s relationship, read here:
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline: A complete timeline of their relationship
A complete timeline of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s relationship as the singer releases her memoir, ‘The Woman in Me’
Britney Spears opens up about getting married because she was ‘drunk’ and ‘bored’
20:00 , Inga Parkel
Spears has been married three times throughout her life, but her first marriage only lasted 55 hours.
The singer, 41, discussed the brief marriage in her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which will be released on 24 October. In an excerpt obtained by Time magazine, Spears wrote about her marriage to her childhood friend, Jason Alexander, during a New Year’s trip to Las Vegas.
Read more:
Britney Spears opens up about getting married because she was ‘drunk’ and ‘bored’
Spears and Jason Alexander were married for a total of 55 hours
Britney Spears won’t narrate her own audiobook
19:13 , Inga Parkel
Last week, fans were shocked to hear that the audiobook of Spears’s memoir won’t be narrated by the singer herself.
Instead, the book will be read by Dawson’s Creek star Michelle Williams, after Spears admitted to finding the writing process “heart-wrenching” enough.
Read more:
Britney Spears will not read her own audiobook after ‘heart-wrenching’ time ‘reliving’ experiences
Spears will read the book’s introduction before actor Michelle Williams takes over
Britney Spears songwriter debunks fan theories about ‘Everytime’ meaning
18:30 , Inga Parkel
Spears’s 2003 song “Everytime” is not about her unborn baby with Justin Timberlake, as some fans recently theorised, the songwriter has said.
The “Toxic” singer, 41, who dated the NSYNC frontman from 1999 to 2002, reveals that she had an abortion during their relationship in her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which will be published on 24 October.
Since the revelation was published last week, fans have begun to wonder if “Everytime”, which has long been assumed to be about her relationship with Timberlake, also alludes to the terminated pregnancy.
However, according to Annet Artani, who wrote the song with Spears, the ballad was about their respective breakups – mostly Artani’s. It is not a reference to an unborn baby, she told TMZ.
Read more:
Britney Spears songwriter debunks fan theories about ‘Everytime’ meaning
Fans had said they found ‘whole new meaning’ in the 2003 pop song after singer’s recent abortion revelation
18:10 , Inga Parkel
Britney Spears says she accidentally Method acted on set of Crossroads: ‘I was someone else’
17:50 , Inga Parkel
Spears has opened up about her experiences with “Method acting” while filming the 2002 film Crossroads.
The “Gimme More” singer is soon to release her memoir The Woman in Me, with revelations from the book already dropping.
In an extract shared with People, Spears, 41, opened up about one of her brief journeys into acting in the teen movie Crossroads. Spears starred opposite Taryn Manning and Zoe Saldana in the film about three girls on a roadtrip across America.
Read more:
Britney Spears says she accidentally Method acted on set of Crossroads: ‘I was someone else’
Singer said that she ‘didn’t have any separation at all’ while filming 2002 teen movie
Christina Aguilera sidesteps question about whether she features in Britney Spears memoir
17:30 , Inga Parkel
Christina Aguilera has side-stepped questions about Britney Spears’s forthcoming memoir during a late-night talk show appearance.
Aguilera, 42, grew up alongside Spears as child stars on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club in the Nineties. They both went on to forge successful pop careers, but were often pitched as rivals.
With Spears, 41, releasing her memoir The Woman in Me later this month, in which she makes revelations about her ex-boyfriend and former Mickey Mouse Club member Justin Timberlake, fans have wondered whether Aguilera will also feature.
Read more:
Christina Aguilera sidesteps question about whether she features in Britney Spears memoir
‘Has she called you and said, “Hey, head’s up...”’
Britney Spears recalls auditioning to ‘rooms full of men’ looking her ‘up and down’ aged 15
17:10 , Inga Parkel
Britney Spears has reflected on being looked “up and down” by music executives when she was brought into audition rooms that were “full of men” ahead of signing her first record deal.
The singer, 41, made the revelation in her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which will be released on 24 October. In an excerpt obtained by People, Spears writes about attending auditions with record labels when she was 15.
Read more:
Britney Spears recalls auditioning to ‘rooms full of men’ looking her ‘up and down’ aged 15
Britney Spears was just 15 when she first started auditioning at record labels
Britney Spears reveals why she shaved her head in 2007
16:50 , Inga Parkel
Britney Spears has spoken out about her infamous 2007 head-shaving stunt, which saw the pop star give herself a buzzcut in front of approximately 70 photographers after leaving rehab.
The bizarre moment was among a series of breakdowns that ultimately landed Spears under a court-mandated conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, in 2008. In November 2021, the “Toxic” singer was finally given back all of her legal rights.
Over 16 years since the incident, Spears, 41, has finally opened up – in her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me – about what drove her to shave her head.
Read more:
Britney Spears reveals why she shaved her head in 2007
Singer famously gave herself a buzzcut in front of 70 photographers after leaving rehab
From Justin Timberlake to Sam Asghari: A timeline of Britney Spears’ relationships
16:30 , Inga Parkel
In her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney Spears is expected to reflect on some of the most pivotal moments in her life, including her relationships.
Over the years, the pop star’s love life has continued to make headlines. Most recently, her ex-husband Sam Asghari filed for divorce after only 14 months of marriage. Spears is also the mother of two children – Sean, 18, and Jayden, 17 – whom she shares with her second ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
From Justin Timberlake to Sam Asghari: A timeline of Britney Spears’ relationships
Here’s everything we know about Britney Spears’ relationships and rumoured romances.
Justin Timberlake ‘concerned’ about content of Britney Spears’s memoir – report
16:10 , Inga Parkel
Justin Timberlake is reportedly “concerned” over the content of Britney Spears’s forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me.
Timberlake, 42, and Spears, 41, dated for three years in their late teens and early twenties, before ending their relationship in 2002.
While the two high-profile singers’ romance was widely reported on, their breakup also elicited a storm of headlines, with Timberlake implying on several occasions that Spears had been unfaithful.
Read more:
Justin Timberlake ‘concerned’ about content of Britney Spears’s memoir – report
Singers’ three-year romance came to an end in 2002
Britney Spears reveals Justin Timberlake broke up with her via text
15:50 , Inga Parkel
Spears has continued to open up about her former relationship with Justin Timberlake, this time explaining that the former NSYNC member broke up with her over a text message.
In an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, obtained by the New York Times, Spears wrote about how the breakup affected her after their three-year relationship.
According to the memoir, the 2002 breakup left her “devastated” and she had even considered leaving the music industry entirely during that time. Spears wrote about how the separation didn’t even seem to phase Timberlake. “I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood,” she wrote, according to the NYTimes.
Read more:
‘Devastated’: Britney Spears reveals Justin Timberlake broke up with her via text
Pair dated from 1999 to 2002
Britney Spears fans find ‘whole new meaning’ in 2003 song following abortion revelation
15:30 , Inga Parkel
Fans have found new meaning in the pop star’s 2003 song “Everytime” after she recently revealed that she had an abortion during her relationship with Justin Timberlake.
The “Toxic” singer, 41, who dated the NSYNC frontman from 1998 to 2002, wrote about the “agonising” decision in her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which is released on 24 October.
In excerpts published by People, Spears implied that she had gone through with the abortion because Timberlake had wanted her to, telling her that “we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young”.
Since the revelation was published on Tuesday (17 October), fans have begun to wonder if “Everytime”, which has long been assumed to be about her relationship with Timberlake, also alludes to the terminated pregnancy.
Read more:
Britney Spears fans find ‘whole new meaning’ in 2003 song following abortion revelation
In her forthcoming memoir, ‘The Woman in Me’, Spears opens up about her decision to get an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
Britney Spears memoir ‘accidentally leaked in Mexico’ ahead of official release date
15:10 , Inga Parkel
Britney Spears’ highly anticipated memoir The Women in Me was accidentally put on sale in Mexico ahead of its official release next week, according to fan reports.
Videos shared on TikTok and X/Twitter purport to show copies of the book available at a trade fair in Mexico City, on Wednesday (18 October) – nearly one week before its scheduled release on 24 October.
Fans of the singer are now urging those who managed to purchase a copy of The Woman In Me to “respect Britney’s work” and refrain from leaking it online.
Read more:
Britney Spears memoir ‘accidentally leaked in Mexico’ ahead of official release date
Spears’s forthcoming memoir is scheduled for release on 24 October
Paris Hilton breaks silence on Britney Spears memoir
14:50 , Inga Parkel
Hilton has shared her thoughts on Britney Spears’ upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me.
Paris Hilton says she hopes Britney Spears found writing her memoir ‘extremely healing’
‘It’s very difficult to have to relive and remember things that you don’t want to remember,’ Hilton says
Britney Spears recounts Colin Farrell fling after Justin Timberlake slept with ‘six or seven girls’
14:30 , Inga Parkel
Spears has compared her two-week fling with Colin Farrell to a “street fight” in the whirlwind aftermath of her difficult breakup with Justin Timberlake.
Britney Spears recounts Colin Farrell fling after Justin Timberlake slept with ‘six or seven girls’
Spears was introduced to Farrell by a ‘club promoter friend’, the US pop star writes in her new memoir
Britney Spears says she was seen as a ‘harlot’ after Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me a River'
13:10 , Isobel Lewis
Spears has also opened up in the book about Timberlake releasing the music video for “Cry Me a River” after their split, and how she was subsequently demonised.
Britney Spears says ‘Cry Me a River’ media attention portrayed her as a ‘harlot’
Sam Asghari says he’s already read Britney Spears’s memoir: ‘I’m definitely excited'
12:50 , Isobel Lewis
Asghari has also spoken about the memoir, telling TMZ that he’ll be first in line to get a copy.
Describing how “tough” it was for her to write, he said: “I already read it and I’m very proud of her. She put a lot of work into it, and it was very hard. I’m definitely excited, and I’m extremely proud of her.”
You can read more about their relationship below:
A timeline of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari’s relationship, from dating to divorce
The Woman in Me ‘won’t cover’ Britney Spears’s divorce from Sam Asghari
12:30 , Isobel Lewis
While Spears’s relationship with ex-husband Sam Asghari will likely feature in the book, her split from the dancer and model reportedly will not be included.
In August, Asghari, 29, filed for divorce from Spears, 41, after 14 months of marriage. According to reports, however, Spears signed off on the final draft of The Woman in Me just weeks before their split was announced, and has not been edited to reflect it.
Britney Spears’s memoir ‘will not be edited to reflect Sam Asghari divorce’
Jamie Spears ‘body-shamed’ daughter throughout conservatorship, singer claims
12:10 , Isobel Lewis
Britney Spears was placed under her conservatorship by her father Jamie, who she has now claimed “repeatedly told me I looked fat and that I was going to have to do something about it”.
“Feeling like you’re never good enough is a soul-crushing state of being for a child,” she wrote. “He’d drummed that message into me as a girl, and even after I’d accomplished so much, he was continuing to do that to me.”
Britney Spears recalls father ‘repeatedly told me I looked fat’
Britney Spears opens up about her conservatorship
11:50 , Isobel Lewis
One topic sure to feature heavily in The Woman in Me is Spears’s conservatorship, the legal guardianship she was placed under for 13 years and released from in 2021.
In an extract already shared with People, the musician described how the conservatorship “stripped me of my womanhood”, turning her into a “sort of child-robot”.
Britney Spears breaks silence on 13-year conservatorship
Britney Spears says writing her book was ‘so hard'
11:30 , Isobel Lewis
In the run-up to her memoir being released, Spears admitted on Instagram that “there are so many hard things to read in the news about my book”.
“Writing the book was so hard [sad-face emoji] !!!” she wrote on Thursday (19 October). “Then I woke up this morning and said it’s all relative nothing really matters at this point.”
How to buy The Woman in Me
11:10 , Isobel Lewis
Eagerly anticipating the release of The Woman in Me? Here’s how you can pre-order the book ahead of its release on Tuesday:
Britney Spears tells all in new memoir The Woman in Me – here’s where to buy it
Britney Spears won’t narrate her own audiobook
10:50 , Isobel Lewis
Last week, fans were shocked to hear that the audiobook of Spears’s memoir won’t be narrated by the singer herself.
Instead, the book will be read by Dawson’s Creek star Michelle Williams, after Spears admitted to finding the writing process “heart-wrenching” enough.
Britney Spears will not read her own audiobook after ‘heart-wrenching’ experiences
Britney Spears says she had abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
10:30 , Isobel Lewis
The first major revelation from Spears’s The Woman in Me, shared in an extract of the book released in People, is that the singer had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake.
The pair, who met as child stars on the Mickey Mouse Club, dated from 1998 to 2002. During this time, Spears got pregnant, but terminated the pregnancy because Timberlake “didn’t want to be a father”.
“To this day, it’s one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life,” Spears wrote.
Britney Spears reveals she had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
Britney Spears memoir to be released
10:11 , Isobel Lewis
Welcome to The Independent’s live blog, where we’ll be counting down to the release of Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me – and keeping you in the loop about any information that’s leaked out so far.
