Jamie Lynn Spears Weighs In on Britney and Justin Timberlake's Breakup

Jamie Lynn Spears is reflecting on Britney Spears' very public split from Justin Timberlake.

During the first of a two-part interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast, released on Jan. 17, Jamie Lynn opened up about being "so sad" once news broke that her sister and the NSYNC frontman had called it quits in 2002 after almost four years of dating.

"I think everyone thought it was forever," Jamie Lynn said. "I was so sad, first off, because my sister was so sad, but that, too, was the first time I saw maybe I didn't know everything about the relationship. Perhaps they were protecting me and obviously why would they talk to me about anything. It was really sad, though, seeing my sister be so heartbroken."

As fans may recall, during their well-known romance, the two stars reigned as a power couple of the pop world.

Although Jamie Lynn went on to say that she does not "truly" know why the former couple broke up, she said that they were "criminalized" and held to a "different standard" than other adults their age. At the time of their breakup, both Justin and Britney were around 21 years old.

Britney Spears' Major Moments in the Year 2000

The Things I Should've Said author also reflected on her sister's feelings following the release of Justin's 2002 breakup single, "Cry Me A River," long assumed by fans to be about Justin's romance with Britney.

"I thought, ‘How heartbreaking it must have been for my sister when ‘Cry Me a River' came out,'" she said. "Don't get me wrong, like that's a way to launch your solo career, right? That's a way to do it, but I felt really sad."

Referring to Britney's slow ballad—which dropped the year after Justin's single—she continued, "And my sister she wrote that song ‘Everytime' and she's beyond brilliant with anything creative and she picked that song out on the piano. And she wrote it, and it still makes me cry because I think about how heartbroken she was, because that was her song and that was his song."

In February 2021, following the airing of the New York Times' documentary Framing Britney Spears, Justin faced renewed criticism from fans over how he handled the breakup and issued an apology.

Over the past several days, Britney and Jamie Lynn have engaged in a war of words over social media, stemming in part from a recent interview Jamie Lynn gave to ABC News in promotion of her new book.

During the sit-down, for which Jamie Lynn has received widespread backlash, she spoke about an allegation she made in her memoir, accusing Britney of locking her in a room with a knife. Britney denied the allegation, tweeting on Jan. 14, "I've never been around you ever with a knife or would I ever even think to do such."

Now, during her recent Call Her Daddy podcast appearance, Jamie Lynn recalled her feelings about the alleged incident.

"I think that people need to remember, I'm telling the story about what I experienced," she said. "That was an experience I went through, and it was really scary. I felt really unsafe…I think it's important that I say that, because I didn't understand it. I was a kid. I just knew I felt really scared... I never felt like she was scared in a way that she was going to harm me or anything, but it just felt weird. I didn't understand it."

After calling Jamie Lynn a "scum person" for her accusation, on Jan. 16, Britney opened up about her younger sister in a statement shared to Twitter, writing, "I said some harsh things because you obviously hurt me by the things you are making up about me!!! When I said only a scum person would make up things like that about someone, I could have sworn I said 'but you're not,'" adding that she "loves" Jamie Lynn.

During her interview, Jamie Lynn added that looking back now, she sees Britney as a "brilliant young woman who going through a hard time."

E! News has reached out to Britney's reps for comment.