In November 2006, paparazzi captured an image that has since defined the decade: a shot of the tabloid holy trinity—Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears—getting into a car after a night out at the Beverly Hills Hotel. At the time, the trio were the most hotly covered celebrities by print tabloids and emerging gossip blogs; Spears was in the midst of a divorce after the birth of her second child, Hilton had recently released her debut album and been charged with a DUI, and Lohan was covered more for her partying than her considerable talents.

In the 19 years since the New York Post published that photo, misogynistically dubbed “the Bimbo Summit," it has spawned artwork, a musical, and even Hilton celebrating its anniversary on Instagram. Its lasting legacy alone shows the cultural impact Y2K has had on today, from the proliferation of celebrity obsession to the 24/7 news cycle.

Despite the 2000s feeling not all that long ago, nostalgia has hit everything, including fashion, TV reboots, and a new generation of pop stars. Inevitably, it’s made its way to the literary world. But rather than regurgitating the past, new books are interrogating the period and ephemera we know and love—moments like that shot of the Hilton, Lohan, and Spears.

Three of this summer’s must-reads explore the lasting effects of Y2K: Sophie Gilbert’s Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, Alice Bolin’s Culture Creep: Notes on the Pop Apocalypse, and Jeff Weiss’s Waiting on Britney Spears. Girl on Gil, released in April, looks at the era’s hyper objectification and sexualization of women and how many of the dominant themes of that time, like porn, have influenced cultural consciousness today. Meanwhile, Bolin’s essay collection, published on June 3, shows the throughline between aughties popular culture and what’s trending now, from diet-tracking apps to Animal Crossing. And Weiss’s book, released this week, is an autofiction take on his time writing for tabloids, examining how that paparazzi period changed modern media.

With all three books on shelves now, Bolin, Gilbert, and Weiss spoke to Marie Claire about their initial inspirations for writing about the 2000s and the decade’s impact on social media, politics, and everything in between.

Marie Claire: What was the initial inspiration for writing about this era of pop culture?

Alice Bolin, author of Culture Creep: My initial idea for the book had a lot more to do with [my obsession with magazines]. As time has worn on with the pandemic, Trump, all of this stuff feels heavier. Just being in your 30s, the nostalgia does not feel as light and fun to me anymore. There's a bigger theme about how we're living in this future that feels so much like the past, how much of our culture now is this nostalgia machine, and how much that reflects stagnation and economic stagnation. It became a lot more about interrogating this culture that hinges on nostalgia in so many ways.

Sophie Gilbert, author of Girl on Girl: I found myself around 2021 circling the 2000s because it felt like a lot of culture was pointing to that. When Promising Young Woman came out, it had a specific way of nodding back to that period and what it was doing to us. The combination of honoring the real zing and sparkle of things like “Stars Are Blind,” but also interrogating the gender dynamics and the rape culture of the era was really interesting. [It was a] formative period for me because I turned 17 in 2000, and then my entire 20s were in that period. It made me wonder what it had done to millennial women.

Then Roe v. Wade was overturned, and we had this period of Trump and #MeToo, and it felt like progress for women was not inevitable anymore. I wondered what the culture might be able to say about why I felt so disempowered and why women in general seemed less powerful than they'd had in a long time.

Jeff Weiss, author of Waiting on Britney Spears: My first book is a book about Britney Spears, which is such a reflection of my life that I was so haunted by pop culture because that was the culture that I knew. I wanted the timeline to closely mirror my experiences in this world. Of course, there were certain things where you had to finesse it to make it make sense. Because at the end of the day, you're going for more of a deeper underlying truth that we subconsciously understand more than the actual, because the truth is sort of impossible to know. I was very adamant about having Britney's facts be as accurate as I could. But even so, that's impossible, right? So you're forced as a writer and a journalist to sift through all this ephemera, and that is the historical record. And then there's Britney's truth, which is its own reality unto itself. Then there's the truth as told by the tabloids, and then there's the truth told by her family. And there's the truth as told by all these people around her. What's so interesting to me was I found it in a crazy way. This is the first rendering of this era that wasn't written in real time.

MC: How do you see Y2K culture impacting today’s pop culture?

AB: One of the things I've been thinking about a lot is how nostalgia affects a break from the past. These things were not that long ago, and there's a huge amount of continuity between culture then and culture now. Things have just snowballed in crazy ways. The Kardashians, that's when it started, or Paris Hilton's connection with Donald Trump—there are all these things that are still interwoven, but nostalgia makes us feel like that thing is over. There's a lot of damage that's done in not recognizing the ways this culture is continuous, and actually that things have not changed. It is a sign of stagnation of how this culture is not working, and culture at large in society is not working for anyone except these people who were benefiting back then, too.

SG: I think the process of reconsideration began with Monica Lewinsky's 2014 essay in Vanity Fair, which seemed to ignite something. After that, you had the process of looking at the ‘90s and the different women who were unfairly maligned and dragged through the ringer in that era. And the 2000s is having its turn. We're thinking about it differently, not just because there's this moment of nostalgia for it in culture, but because the people who are most imprinted on it are now coming of age in ways that are making us able to reckon with it a bit more.

The huge influence of porn was something that came through in my book, in which suddenly porn had gone from something that you had to watch in movie theaters to something that you had to rent in a video store to something that you could watch in a blink online, bled into culture. I think we all, living through this period, absorbed the idea that being good at sex meant performing sex rather than enjoying it…[and] the idea that for women, power was sexual power, and it was the only kind that mattered.

Also, this shift in celebrity around the turn of the millennium—the way that suddenly all you had to do to be famous was to be visible. That really changed the future for a lot of us and set us up for the age of Instagram, influencers, and TikTok.

JW: My working theory is that the tabloid sensibility has completely become the mainstream sensibility of modern life. It was the thing that eroded the guardrails, right? You watch the Matt Lauer interview with Britney, and it's haunting, especially in light that Matt Lauer turned out to be doing heinous things. He was using the tabloids to launder these salacious allegations so he could put them on the news, so he could be like, Well, NBC News isn't reporting them, but these tabloids are. You are basically giving it the validity of a national news organization that's respected. It's the Truman Capote quote that I included in [the book] that said, “All literature is gossip,” but now all culture is gossip. That is our culture. We have a carnival tabloid president. If you are really tracing it, you're like, Of course, now we live in the Andy Warhol world that he predicted. And then it becomes round two. It's actually Paris Hilton's world, and now we are in Paris Hilton's world. Everyone is trying to be Paris Hilton.

MC: Do you think the beginnings of reality TV led to us mirroring that and becoming our own brands online today?

AB: In the late ‘90s into the 2000s, the paparazzi became extremely powerful and prevalent. There were gossip blogs, and there were even nightclubs that opened in order to cater to the paparazzi. You can see how much this gossip industry completely was symbiotic with brick and mortar businesses. Things are even more invasive now because of social media. Everybody's the paparazzi now. Everyone's monitoring these people, and it's creepy.

In addition, it's like Paris Hilton in her memoir saying, ‘I sell my own image or I control my body.’ But you're still being forced to sell your image so that someone else doesn't do it. The Kardashians have made billions off of their own bodies, their own images, which [one could] say [is] preferable to Hugh Hefner making that money or TMZ making that money. It's all a symbiotic ecosystem. Those other gossip industries are still feeding off these social media companies and accounts. And clearly our taste for it has only grown.

SG: In the 20th century, if you wanted to be famous, you had to be famous for something. You had to have a skill or a talent or a moment of notoriety. Then suddenly, with the internet and the rise of the gossip industry, both online and the industrial gossip magazine phase in the 2000s, they had all this space to fill, and reality television was happening at the same time. That created this new paradigm where all you had to do to become famous was to let yourself be very visible in front of the cameras, to open up your life to cameras, to make yourself exposed and, in some ways, overexposed. Or, you could wear a funny dress and stand at the right events, pose for photographers, and talk to them. That was a valid way of getting famous in the early 2000s, and it, in some ways, made celebrities seem more accessible to the rest of us. I think it trained us all to think of ourselves as potential objects in a way that, for me, certainly has been very hard to unroot from my own mind.

JW: I have this theory that it all spawned at the Coachella VIP, and it's the anthropological evolutionary tale of humanity. Coachella becomes a thing in this era where you go from being a human to an influencer to a brand, and then you become an artist. Paris Hilton was that, right? She was a human being who became a brand that became a TV show that became a pop star.

MC: How did Y2K culture impact women? Does it dovetail with #MeToo?

AB: It's a huge theme in the book because, in some ways, #MeToo was very consequential and really did change how we see sexual politics, sexual harassment, sexual violence. What I say is that it didn't go far enough when it had the chance to. That's often the case with these radical political movements, of course, but especially relying so much on the justice system to be what takes down these people. It was a huge mistake because Trump can pardon whoever he wants. People get out of jail, and they just go on with their lives. Especially at the same time that we're having this reckoning about racist policing and the prison system, there's a huge amount of irony that separates people, where you start to think #MeToo is at odds with Black Lives Matter, when they should be part of the same thrust toward justice.

I still think we haven't seen the full weight of what #MeToo did. This focus on celebrity culture was a huge downfall of this movement. Of course, we want these famous people to be brought to account, and the entertainment industry is this unregulated wild west, so that did need to be addressed. But it was very difficult then to attach that same amount of energy to harassment in people's own lives, violence in people's own lives. It's a lot more about changing culture rather than addressing it through judicial means.

SG: There was so much disgust that was leveled at women during [the Y2K] era, and especially at their bodies that we all internalized. The idea that we might be found disgusting by someone in a sexual context, knowing that we couldn't rely on privacy, even in a sexual context—images might be shared, video might be shared. What that does is alienate you from your own sense of self. This period was about making women obsess over their so-called flaws and thinking about what they needed to change about themselves. So much of that is a distraction from thinking about what we want, what we need. The idea that when we're hating ourselves and we are projecting that hate onto other women, in turn, we're not focused on the core things that we need.

MC: What are your favorite and least favorite things from the era?

AB: Autobiography by Ashlee Simpson. I'm a huge Ashlee apologist, especially that album. I still listen to it. My least favorite is that brand of evangelical Christianity. That's everywhere now—purity rings and that culture.

SG: The O.C. because I loved that show.

That brand of male photography that puts young girls next to penises, I would eliminate that from the island. I will implicate Terry Richardson, but also American Apparel.

JW: Britney dancing with the snake at the VMAs. In my head, it's a Jewish holiday at my uncle or my cousin's place in Palo Verdes. I remember watching and being like, I’m in love with her. Like, What kind of mystic ceremony did I witness? I feel like it's that fertility ritual from ancient Babylon.

I hated Justin Timberlake. I fucking hated “SexyBack.” I thought it was a dumb lyric. He was dressed like a mortgage broker going to the club.

MC: Why do you think younger generations have such a thirst for discovering Y2K pop culture?

AB: The pendulum swings back, and kids who didn't experience it or who were young start to reimagine these times, and they see it through a different lens than the people who lived through it. They don't necessarily see the bad parts. It becomes this fantasia of this fun, bright, poppy, teen aesthetic. It's certainly something to have fun with and play with and remix. There's something where our times reflect that time: war and militarism, the Nepo baby thing, old money. There are threads in culture that harken back to that time in addition to it being a fun aesthetic to play with.

SG: There's so much about it that's enticing, and it feels like what's being reclaimed is the surface-level aesthetic dazzle of it, and not the power dynamics, which, thank God.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

After two years apart, Britney Spears and her sons spent Christmas together—and the reunion has the Princess of Pop all up in her feels.

The pop singer took to Instagram on Dec. 25 to share a video of herself with her younger son, Jayden, and her caption is too sweet. "Best Christmas of my life !!! I haven’t seen my boys in 2 years," Spears wrote. "Tears of joy and literally in shock everyday koo koo crazy so in love and blessed !!! I'm speechless thank you Jesus !!!"

In the clip, Spears and Jayden wish fans a Merry Christmas while standing by a Christmas tree and fireplace. The musician couldn't resist kissing her son on the cheek, and she was all smiles as they filmed the short video.

Spears shares 18-year-old Jayden James and 19-year-old Sean Preston with her ex-husband Kevin Federline; the couple's divorce was finalized in 2007. Federline had 70% custody of the children, but he caused waves in 2022 after implying Spears was estranged from her sons. At the time, Federline told ITV Sean and Jayden were "not seeing [Spears] right now" and that they wouldn't attend her wedding to Sam Asghari that year.

Spears responded to Federline's comments with a fiery Instagram post, writing that "raising teenage boys is never easy for anyone." But in the two and a half years since then, her relationship with her sons seems to have improved dramatically.

Jayden visited his mom in Los Angeles in November, after he and Sean moved to Hawaii with Federline in 2023. Spears' sons also called her this May to wish her a happy Mother's Day.

A Britney Spears biopic is incoming, and we now have further details about the exciting movie.

Wicked director Jon M. Chu will be taking the reins of the film, and has just explained that the popstar "has a story that deserves to be told properly," which is a large part of why he took on the project.

"I cannot talk much about the Britney story other than I have been a Britney fan for many years," Chu told The Hollywood Reporter this week.

"I saw her when she was one of 12 acts at the Shrine Auditorium. I’ve gone to many of her shows, and she’s always been someone I’ve looked up to. She represents a generation of people growing up in the 2000s and late '90s, and she has a story that deserves to be told properly. There’s a lot about us in it."

He added, "We haven’t written the script yet, we haven’t hired a writer yet. But in this initial conception, I think it’s a lot about how we treat people, young people, stars that we think we own, women, mothers. There’s a lot of things in there that I would love to explore."

As Marie Claire reported over the summer, the film will be based on Spears' memoir The Woman in Me, which was published in October 2023.

Spears herself is working on the project alongside Chu and Marc Platt, as she shared on X this past August.

The Woman in Me traces Spears' life from her childhood in Louisiana all the way to her marriage to ex Sam Asghari, by way of her rise to popstardom, her relationships with Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline, her motherhood journey, and her 13-year conservatorship.

Given there's no script yet, it's unclear whether the film will also touch on Spears' separation from Asghari and other more recent events in her life.

While we wait, Chu's Wicked is out Nov. 22, so go see that!

Britney Spears has written an impassioned message about the female celebs she looks up to, and it's all extremely wholesome.

"Women I genuinely admire and have crazy girl crushes on !!!" Spears began on Instagram Stories. She went on to reminisce on the female friendships many women have as young girls, and expressed her regret that these close bonds don't always continue into adulthood.

She continued, "I wanted to share the women who inspire me !!! [Pamela Anderson] is a classic babe and seems so sweet !!! Natalie Portman because I feel like she's the coolest person I ever met outside with her dog in New York and we had the same shirt on !!! Camila Cabello the singer because she's so darn pretty and she makes me giggle out loud !!! Her personality is so sweet and kooky I think it's healthy to be silly !!! I wish I was more like that !!!

"And like Kendall Jenner is it even normal to be that pretty ??? Geez and the other two are Selena Gomez and Drew Barrymore they're literally gorgeous !!! Honestly I have no idea why I'm writing all this !!! I'm away writing my novel and learning about myself !!! But I do so miss being silly with the girls !!!"

Spears and Gomez shared a sweet moment back in 2021, when the Only Murders in the Building actress told the "Toxic" singer that she was welcome to come cook with her anytime as part of an Instagram exchange at the time.

They have also met in person before, at least once that we know of, both presenting on stage at the 2011 VMAs.

We also know that Spears and Portman hung out together in the early 2000s in a pair of iconic party outfits.

Here's hoping Spears finds the time to nurture the female friendships she misses!

Brittany Mahomes made a red-hot appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game on Monday.

The wife of quarterback Patrick Mahomes showed up to Arrowhead Stadium in an all-red latex outfit consisting of a jacket and bootcut pants. She accessorized with black square-toed boots and a black shoulder bag from her impressive designer collection.

After Brittany posted a series of photos of herself in the sexy outfit on Instagram, fans immediately drew the parallels between this look and Britney Spears' in her music video for "Oops!...I Did It Again." At the time, Spears danced in an iconic red latex catsuit.

Brittany, like Spears in the video, wore her long blonde hair down and straight.

Brittany didn't sit with new bestie Taylor Swift at the Chiefs vs. Saints game, where the latter was making her grand return after two weeks' deeply felt absence.

However, the two women were spotted sharing a big hug, as seen in TikTok footage.

Swift also brought the fall heat to the sporting event, arriving in a plaid set by Vivienne Westwood: an off-the-shoulder top with a sweetheart neckline, and a micro mini-skirt paired with platformed black knee boots.

The star made the whole place shimmer with her beauty look, showing off her signature red lip and cat eye, plus some adorable glitter freckles to pull it all together.

Swift made headlines when she skipped boyfriend Travis Kelce's last two games, but she has two reported reasons to skip games which make a whole lot of sense.

One is that she's currently busy prepping for the next leg of her Eras Tour, which kicks off in Miami on Oct. 18, and the other is that there are potential "security concerns" if she attends Chiefs away games, according to one source.

This season, Swift has favored home games held at Arrowhead, having attended three so far, all in Kansas City.

Sabrina Carpenter playfully incorporates her sexuality into her lyrics, choreography and on-stage outfits, and despite it being 2024, she gets lots of stick for it.

The singer recently spoke to TIME for a cover interview, and was asked whether she has escaped the kind of "vilification" that artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera used to get in the 2000s for embracing their sexuality in their work.

"No, I definitely get that as well," Carpenter said.

Even though she's frustrated by it, she has a good strategy for coping with the criticism.

She explained, "Someone told me this, whenever I would get upset or feel like I'm the only one getting criticized for something other people are able to do seemingly so freely: I'm the one that's seeing all the negative sh*t about myself. My friends don't see that."

Carpenter continued, "But you'll still get the occasional mother that has a strong opinion on how you should be dressing. And to that I just say, don't come to the show and that’s okay.

"It's unfortunate that it's ever been something to criticize, because truthfully, the scariest thing in the world is getting up on a stage in front of that many people and having to perform as if it's nothing. If the one thing that helps you do that is the way you feel comfortable dressing, then that's what you’ve got to do."

The star then referred to her 94-year-old grandpa attending one of the shows on her Short n' Sweet Tour, and some of the comments she received about it.

"My fans online are like, I can’t believe she's bending over in front of her grandparents!" she said. "I'm like, girl, they are not paying attention to that. They’re just like, I can’t believe all these people are here."

Fresh off her show in Hartford, Carpenter is playing in Boston on Thursday, followed by Baltimore on Saturday. Her international tour runs through March 26.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's divorce lawyer is Hollywood's finest, as you might very well expect.

As reported by TMZ, the now-exes were spotted meeting with "disso queen" Laura Wasser at their office in West Hollywood on Monday, leading the publication to believe the family attorney will be representing both spouses as they dissolve their marriage.

TMZ further explains that J.Lo and Affleck's lack of a prenup complicates matters, especially when it comes to the production company the father of three founded with his pal Matt Damon while he was already married to Lopez in 2022.

The singer filed for divorce from the actor on Aug. 20 alone, i.e. without a lawyer. While this made a strong statement, it looks like the rest of the proceedings require a little additional help.

So, who is Laura Wasser, exactly? Well, she's earned her title as the "disso queen" after working on some of the most high-profile divorces of the last 25 years.

According to The New Yorker, Wasser represented Britney Spears in her 2007 divorce from Kevin Federline, Angelina Jolie in her 2016 separation from Brad Pitt, Kim Kardashian in her 2022 divorce from Kanye West, and Johnny Depp in his 2017 divorce from Amber Heard.

You thought I was done? No, no. Wasser's former clients also include: Kevin Costner, Ariana Grande, Spike Jonze, Kiefer Sutherland, Denise Richards, Travis Barker, Patricia Arquette, Ashlee Simpson, Nick Lachey, Kelis, Ryan Reynolds, Ashton Kutcher, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Hilary Duff...

Oh, and also? Wasser repped Affleck's ex-wife Jennifer Garner following their 2015 separation.

Speaking to People in 2018, the lawyer—unsurprisingly given her line of work—confirmed that she doesn't believe in monogamy.

"Look I have two kids with two different dads. I was married once for about five minutes. I'm not the best person to ask about relationship advice," she said at the time.

"I also think, frankly, for most people, human beings were not meant to mate for life. If you've found someone and you're with that person and you guys are together until death do you part, you're blessed and that's fantastic. But a lot of people do not find that to be the case.

"So I think it's better for children and people in general to be in a happy house, to be in a happy relationship. If you're not in a happy relationship, don't let your kids grow up seeing two miserable people that dislike each other. Move on."

And a couple final tidbits for you: Wasser reportedly charges some $1,000 an hour for her services, and was rumored to be the inspiration for Laura Dern's character in the 2019 movie Marriage Story.

This year marked Megan Thee Stallion's first time MC-ing the MTV VMAs—and she made sure to pay homage to one of the award show's most beloved performers over the years while hosting.

The rap superstar made several outfit changes throughout the 2024 MTV VMAs, and at one point came out replicating the memorable look Britney Spears' wore while performing "Slave 4 U" at the 2001 VMAs. Megan perfectly recreated the green bikini top and blue hot pants—and even had her own Banana, the yellow snake the pop icon danced with.

While it was a sweet moment, Megan Thee Stallion quickly seemed concerned that the snake might "HISS" at her.

"Slave 4 U" was playing as the "Mamushi" artist appeared wearing the Britney fit with the snake draped over her shoulders, but she began repeating, "Okay, okay. Stop the music, stop the music."

"I'm just playing. Come get this snake," Megan Thee Stallion said with a nervous look while a crew member came to her aid.

"I don't know this snake. This snake don't know me," she cheekily added.

After the crew removed the serpent from the host's body, she yelled, "Oh my god," fixed her hair, and gathered herself. "I tried to hold it down for Britney!" she exclaimed.

The homage couldn't have been more fitting. Not only has Spears offered some of the most incredible VMAs performances over the year—from her 2003 team-up with Madonna and Christina Aguilera to 2000's "Oops! ... I Did It Again"—Megan Thee Stallion recently had her own snake moment.

This year, the hip-hop star dropped Megan, which was full of serpentine imagery, including the cover art of her hatching from an egg. Several of the tracks feature snake references, including the lead single "Cobra," which she dropped last year and included references to how she was shedding her skin as an artist and individual.

Megan Thee Stallion's Spears homage was one of her many looks at the 2024 VMAs. She opened the award show wearing a U.S.A. leotard, referring to the Olympics and the show's first presenter, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles. Before taking the VMA stage to host, she also walked the red carpet wearing a bustier-style bodysuit with a dramatic, mermaid skirt.

Britney shared an "updated" version of an oh-so memorable Versace gown she once wore in 2002 and was most recently worn by actress Blake Lively.

On Saturday, Aug. 10, the singer shared a video on Instagram, posing with a so-called new version of a gown she wore while appearing at the Versace Spring runway show in Milan back in the early aughts.

In a since-deleted caption, Spears declared the new dress to be an "updated version of my 2002 Versace Dress," adding that she likes it "way better" because the new version "shows my legs," People reports.

In the video, the singer is wearing a much shorter dress featuring the same colors and sparkling features. She paired the "updated" version with a set of nude heels.

The singer also disabled the comment section on her personal Instagram account, but it's safe to assume the debut of the new version was well received.

Recently, during her whirlwind It Ends With Us press tour, Lively wore the same one-shoulder, barely-there floral midi gown Spears wore in 2002. The memorable gown features nude sequins with splashes of sparkly pink, blue, yellow, and purple flowers throughout.

Later, in a post shared to her Instagram Stories, Lively confirmed the dress was indeed the same gown worn by Spears.

Lively also said she was wearing the vintage 2002 gown in an interview with People.

"It is Britney's actual dress," Lively told the publication at the time. "It should be in the Smithsonian or the Met. But it's on me. I feel so lucky!"

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Lively wore the dress shortly after reports confirmed a Britney Spears biopic is in the works. Talk about perfect fashion timing!

"(Spears is) the ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and share our stories," Lively said of the iconic pop star.

Lively put on a flower-power masterclass during her It Ends With Us tour, wearing everything from a floral-inspired regal corset gown reminiscent of her show-stopping 2022 Met Gala look. to an oversized, topless white suit featuring a boxy floral-embellished blazer and matching high-waisted, wide-leg trousers.

Lively, who seemed to be cosplaying her It Ends With Us character, florist Lily Bloom, also showcased the barely there trend via peek-a-boo underwear while also dipping into other rare-to-source archival numbers featuring a range of famous designers.

Now, it appears as if Lively reviving Spears' 2002 Versace look has inspired an entirely new floral fit, proving that flower power has no expiration date.

Anyone could guess Blake Lively would wear a floral look to the August 6 premiere of It Ends With Us, in reference to her character, florist Lily Bloom. No one could have guessed she'd do so with help from one of Britney Spears's vintage Versace dresses.

After days of channeling her onscreen persona in bouquet-coated jackets by Christopher John Rogers and petal-strewn floral dresses by Dauphinette, Blake Lively decided to dip into the archives of Los Angeles boutique Tab Vintage for her final promotional appearance. The actress and Blake Brown haircare founder sourced a one-shoulder cross between a naked dress and a floral midi from Versace's Fall 2002 collection. Coated in nude sequins with splashes of sparkly pink, blue, yellow, and purple flowers throughout, the piece looked like a copy-and-paste from a pop superstar's world tour wardrobe. And in reality, it was.

Blake Lively confirmed via Instagram Stories, and then in a red carpet interview with People, that her dress isn't merely a vintage pull It's the exact same garment Britney Spears wore to the Versace Fall 2002 runway show.

"It is Britney's actual dress," Lively told the magazine. "It should be in the Smithsonian or the Met. But it's on me. I feel so lucky!"

Over twenty years ago, Britney styled the dress with barrel curls, rosy blush, and stiletto heels. Lively went in a similar direction in the present, pairing it with her signature cascading waves, pink cheeks, and iridescent blue heels. The actress also gave the dress some extra floral accoutrements, courtesy of a peony-shaped clutch by Judith Leiber and smatterings of jewel-tone Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Stars from Naomi Campbell to Olivia Rodrigo have lately found that the biggest fashion flex isn't wearing something brand-new; it's referencing a piece of long-lost fashion history by wearing vintage dresses on the red carpet. Boutiques including Tab Vintage, Shrimpton Couture, and Aralda Vintage have connected stylists like Law Roach and Molly Dickson with decades-old archival pieces for their clients' movie premieres; designer labels have also opened up their private collections for celebrities to borrow from when the dress code demands it.

Tracking down a dress from the height of Britney Spears's pop stardom is no easy feat—especially for Lively, who works as her own stylist. (It's also a timely move: Reports surfaced last week that a Britney Spears biopic is currently in the works.) The star wrote a tribute acknowledging what the look meant to her on Instagram, calling Spears "the ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and share our stories."

"Britney, us millennials all have a story of a moment, or of years that you made us want to shine and inspire awe, with strength, and joy and immensely hard work," she continued. "Thank you for your example and your contribution to women telling their stories."

Blake Lively's vintage Versace moment completes the marathon of flower-centric outfits she's worn while promoting It Ends With Us. Celebrities lately haven't been satisfied with showing off their personal style on the red carpet. Instead, they've chosen pieces that pay homage to their characters, ranging from the chic (like Zendaya's Wimbledon white dresses for the tennis movie Challengers) to the camp (like Anya Taylor-Joy's spiky Paco Rabanne mini to reference her warrior hero character in Furiosa). Lively went in an all-floral-everything direction for her press tour, including floral cut-out jeans by Valentino, embroidered Western chaps by Stella McCartney, and a resin floral coat by Dauphinette.

It might seem like a recent phenomenon, but Lively noted on the red carpet that she's been in a method dressing mode for years—starting with 2018's A Simple Favor. Back then, she hit the press circuit in exaggerated three-piece suits just like the eccentric rich mom she plays in the film.

“I'm so excited method dressing is such a thing now because years ago when I did A Simple Favor, people were like, ‘Why are you dressing like your character? Why are you in suits?'” Lively told People. “And I was like, because we have no marketing money to promote this movie. It's a small movie and the only thing people really pay attention to at these junket interviews is the photos of fashion so if I just wear men's suits, people are going to go, 'Why is she just wearing suits?'"

Then and now, Lively's styling has certainly gotten people to pay attention to her projects. Premiere night didn't end with her Britney Spears Versace, either. Later, she changed into a pink corseted mini dress and matching sandal heels to look like a peony in bloom. The designer behind it? Versace, of course.

Britney Spears's life story has already fascinated millions, but it's about to be told in an exciting new way. The Hollywood Reporter revealed Thursday that Universal Pictures is developing a biopic based on the superstar's acclaimed memoir The Woman in Me, with the movie studio landing the rights 10 months after the book's release.

Per THR, Wicked director Jon M. Chu is set to direct the soon-to-be blockbuster, with Marc Platt—whose credits include Wicked, La La Land, and being Ben Platt's father—set to produce.

Best of all, the film is 100 percent Spears-approved. She even teased the project on X/Twitter on August 1, less than an hour before the official report.

"Excited to share with my fans that I've been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt," she wrote. "He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned."

The Woman in Me hit bookshelves on October 24, 2023, and became an instant bestseller with 2.5 million copies sold in the U.S., per THR. The celebrity memoir included several revelations from the pop star's personal life, including untold stories from her relationship with Justin Timberlake and her 13-year conservatorship, which ended in November 2021. The audiobook, read by actress Michelle Williams, became the fastest-selling in Simon & Schuster's history, and it was Spotify’s top audiobook of 2023.

Whether Spears appears on camera or remains behind the scenes, the upcoming biopic will be her first feature-length project since 2002, when she made a brief cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember and stared in the friendship drama Crossroads (which hit streaming for the first time earlier this year).

Macy Gray is a huge, longtime Britney Spears fan, but the two women never quite struck up a friendship.

Appearing on Australian talk show The Project ahead of a concert in Hobart, Tasmania, Gray opened up about listening to Spears' music—particularly the album Blackout—to pump herself up before her shows.

Because this is such a known fact about Gray, the presenters asked her if she's ever met the "Toxic" singer, which she confirmed she had once while they were both in the same recording studio.

"We were in the same studio once, and she skateboarded into my session. Literally," the "I Try" singer said.

"She was in the room down the hall, and we looked up and all of a sudden she was skating into our room. And then we talked for a little bit and we didn't really, like, hit it off."

She went on to explain why the meeting turned a little awkward.

"I'm still a groupie to this day. I'm sitting there with Britney Spears, you know, and I kinda stuttered," she said. "I didn't know what to say. And she kinda rolled her eyes. Whatever I said, she was kind of annoyed by it and she left."

Gray then quipped, "She rolled her eyes and she rolled out!"

None of this put Gray off Spears, who called Blackout the "best album ever," and called out "Radar" as her favorite song. She said that listening to the record was kind of like coffee to her, and gave her that "let's go!" energy she needs before playing a show.

Gray is on tour through Australia until July 13, and will be performing in Cary, North Carolina, on Aug. 30, followed by Florence, Kentucky, on Aug. 31. You can find tickets via Ticketmaster or Stubhub.

Celebrity culture is a fascinating thing. While it’s easy to get your fill by following various gossip blogs, scrolling endlessly on social media, and going down Wikipedia rabbit holes about your favorite actors, musicians, and other public figures, there’s nothing quite like hearing about the celebrity experience from the people living it. Enter the celebrity memoir. A very specific genre of both book and memoir, the best celeb memoirs not only give readers a peek behind the curtain—exposing the inner workings of Hollywood, Buckingham Palace, Washington, D.C., and beyond—but also offer up juicy, hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking stories that even their most dedicated fans have never heard, painting a much more nuanced picture of a person previously only seen on a TV screen or magazine cover.

Read on for 45 of the best celebrity memoirs ever written—including a National Book Award winner, many New York Times bestsellers, and even newly published, must-read titles. Pro tip: If you’re an audiobook fan, most celebs narrate their own memoirs, making for an even more intimate and immersive reading experience; we've noted all those read aloud by their authors.

Britney Spears is finding new chart success right now, and it's not because she's released new music (or another memoir).

According to People, the singer's 2011 hit "Criminal" was at No. 68 on the iTunes pop charts in the hours after news broke that her ex Justin Timberlake had been arrested on a DWI charge.

This came after Spears' fans encouraged one another on social media to stream and buy the song to show Timberlake where their allegiance lied.

Because of their efforts, "Criminal" apparently also hit the top 10 on iTunes Brazil, and No. 1 on iTunes Mexico.

Timberlake was arrested in the Hamptons on June 18, with a police document showing that he had driven through a stop sign and hadn't stayed on the right side of the road.

BBC News reports that the police said the Friends With Benefits actor's eyes were "bloodshot and glassy" and that a "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath."

Timberlake allegedly told the officer who stopped his car, "I had one martini and I followed my friends home."

An anonymous source claimed that Timberlake was "wasted" while at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor. "At one point, just before closing, somebody got up to go to the bathroom and left his drink on the table," they told the New York Post. "When [the man] came back, [Timberlake] was drinking his drink. The guy goes, 'Justin, that’s my drink!'"

A lawyer for Timberlake told CBS News that he "will vigorously defend his client and is currently engaged in the Discovery process w the District Attorney’s Office."

According to sources who spoke to Page Six, the singer was at the American Hotel with friends, and when he was pulled over, "His friends were telling the police, 'Let him go, let him go.'"

Another source claimed, "Justin said under his breath, 'This is going to ruin the tour.' The cop replied, 'What tour?' Justin said, 'The world tour.'"

Timberlake is scheduled to go on tour starting this Friday in Chicago.

As for his relationship to Spears, they dated between 1999 and 2002, with fans developing strong opinions about Timberlake first amid his ex' conservatorship, then when she released her memoir The Woman in Me.

In the 2023 book, Spears revealed that Timberlake had cheated on her, and that she had had an abortion during their relationship, in part because "Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father."

Britney Spears has shared a recent Instagram post claiming her jewelry has been stolen.

On Sunday, May 26, the singer posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be two nearly empty all-white jewelry boxes as she opens and closes various drawers.

"So you can see for real all my jewelry was stolen…it’s hard to buy new now because I’m scared it will go missing," Spears wrote in the caption. "So I buy it cheap and fake, but it’s hard because some of my pieces were originally made for me."

Spears went on to claim that a "baby cross" that she has worn "since I was 4" was also missing, adding that "it's so thin." She did not elaborate in the post when the alleged robbery took place, if she contacted authorities or any other information regarding where her belongings might be or who would allegedly be responsible.

In two follow-up Instagram posts, shared shortly after Spears claimed she had been robbed, the singer posted videos of herself posing in front of the camera, showing off two outfits—a miniature pink dress with puffy sleeves and shell-like accents on the front, and a miniature red dress featuring off-the-shoulder sleeves.

"My favorite dress at the moment … dropped 12 sizes when I brought it to the door though," Spears wrote in the caption of the first post featuring the pink dress. "🧐🧐🧐 not sure why 🍾🍾🍾 !!!" she added, apparently insinuating a connection between her alcohol intake and her size.

"Thinking of getting a tongue 👅 ring!!!" Spears captioned the second post in which she is seen wearing the miniature red dress.

In another Instagram post that was shared prior to the alleged robbery, Spears admitted that she is "scared of the outside world."

"I’m scared of the outside world because god forbid I break a foot and someone calls an ambulance so I don’t go out much," she wrote in the lengthy caption, alluding to an incident in which Spears was allegedly involved in a fight with her boyfriend at the hotel Chateau Marmont. Paramedics were dispatched to the hotel.

In an Instagram post, Spears addressed the alleged incident, saying that "the news is fake."

"I would like respect at this time for people to understand that I am getting stronger everyday," she wrote in a screenshot that was subsequently posted to her page. "Truth sucks so can someone teach me how to lie? Goddesses out there, I'm reaching my higher power and furthermore, I hope you guys are too."

Spears went on to say that she "twisted her ankle" during the alleged incident and that "paramedics showed up at my door illegally."

"They never came in my room but I felt felt completely harassed," she continued. "I'm moving to Boston!!! Peace."

Melissa Joan Hart is the star of Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Britney Spears’ music video for “(You Drive Me) Crazy” (and the film Drive Me Crazy, too). And of Spears, Hart said, per Entertainment Weekly, that she feels “really guilty” for an incident involving the performer from around that time—taking Spears to her first club.

Hart and Spears first became friends after that music video shoot, when Hart was 23 and Spears just 17. “Britney and I got to do a lot of press together,” Hart said. “And we had a lot of fun together during this time. I saw that she was just surrounded by people, never able to break free. And I was like, ‘Hey, want to come?’”

Hart said she didn’t think anything of it, because she “would go to a club every night,” adding “I love dancing and I loved going out, but I also knew to be responsible and, like, when to stop.”

Of Spears—who, as mentioned before, wasn’t yet 18—“She was underage and young and—but I [was] just like, ‘Let’s go out. We’re just gonna go out and have some fun,’” Hart said. “And, yeah—and I feel really guilty about that still to this day because I should have known better, being a big sister.”

As Entertainment Weekly writes, “As documented persistently in the tabloids, Spears struggled with partying in the early 2000s.” (Not to suggest this was Hart’s fault at all, by the way.) Hart and Spears drifted apart over the years, but Hart said she did make contact with her recently: “I saw her when she was doing her Vegas residency a few years back, but she was doing her show, so, you know, it was a quick hello backstage and that was it,” she said.

Spears’ first night at a club at 17 years old wasn’t her first exposure to alcohol, though. As she detailed in her memoir The Woman In Me (released last October), Spears drank with her mother, Lynne, at a young age, as early as the eighth grade: “I loved that I was able to drink with my mom every now and then,” Spears wrote. “The way we drank was nothing like how my father did it. When he drank, he grew more depressed and shut down. We became happier, more alive and adventurous.” 

So wait—you’re telling me that two of the biggest pop hits of the early aughts…were written about a veterinarian? It seems likely, and the backstory is pretty incredible. 

Britney Spears’ single “Toxic” just celebrated its 20-year anniversary last year, and, as Bustle put it, the track “has become one of the defining song and music videos of our generation, but the inspiration for her lyrics about a ‘poisonous’ lover has always been a mystery.”  

But its origin story and the inspiration behind the lyrics really don’t have much to do with Spears it all, it turns out. Though she made it famous, a songwriter named Cathy Dennis co-wrote the hit, which was on Spears’ 2003 album In the Zone. Dennis—along with Henrik Jonback, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg—wrote the song with Janet Jackson in mind, actually; it was initially offered to Kylie Minogue, who turned it down. (Minogue reportedly later called “Toxic” the one that got away.)

Dennis used to date a veterinarian named Noel Fitzpatrick, who now hosts the BBC show The Supervet; TikToker Jason Pargin is convinced that “Toxic” was likely written about Fitzpatrick, who split from Dennis in 2003—the same year “Toxic” was written. 

Fitzpatrick is aware of the rumor, and was even asked about it on the British show This Morning. “Are you who that song is written about?” host Holly Willoughby asked. “Is it you? Please say yes.”

In an extreme flex, Fitzpatrick replied “You may have to ask Kylie Minogue whether ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ is written about me.” Yes, that’s correct—Dennis also co-wrote Minogue’s 2001 hit of that name, back when she and Fitzpatrick were dating and experiencing happier times. 

Both “Toxic” and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Dance Club songs, and “Toxic” won Spears a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. To think that they’re about the same veterinarian is absolutely bonkers. As Pargin noted on TikTok, “There’s no way for anyone to know for sure” if Fitzpatrick is to thank for inspiring such creativity—well, except for asking Dennis herself, we suppose. And speaking of Dennis, she has written a number of hits for the likes of S Club 7, Kelly Clarkson, Jonas Brothers, Adam Lambert, and more, but one hit single she wrote that we’re reasonably certain is not about Fitzpatrick? Katy Perry’s 2008 song “I Kissed a Girl,” for obvious reasons.

Five months after the release of her memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney Spears is revealing that she still has more to share. The superstar took to Instagram yesterday and shared that she wants to be open about all of her struggles, but said that they’re “too offensive to share.”

Spears detailed the highlights of her latest beach getaway “before seemingly hinting that it wasn’t all smooth sailing,” Page Six writes. 

“There are a lot of other things that happened on this trip that I’m not sharing as well,” Spears wrote. “Nothing is what it seems sometimes!!! I portray that everything is completely perfect but trust me I’ve been through it as well and I would share those struggles but they are too offensive to share.”

She added that “It would make other people extremely sad and honestly there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. So just know my life is not as perfect as it seems…and remember my beautiful friends you’re not alone.”

“While the mom of two didn’t specify her woes, several fans rushed to the comments to wish her the best,” Page Six writes. 

It seems there’s even more cards to lay on the table than Spears already did in her tell-all, where she got candid about her resentment toward her father, Jamie Spears, developed over time because of not just their conservatorship battle but also his rampant criticisms of her appearance (including insulting her weight and forcing her to eat only chicken and canned vegetables for two years). Spears also opened up about her abortion when she was just a teenager because her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake “wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.”

In addition to almost taking on the role of Allie opposite Ryan Gosling’s Noah in the hit 2004 film The Notebook, Britney Spears was also this close to playing the role of Elle Woods in 2001’s Legally Blonde, Bustle reports. (The part of Allie ultimately went to Rachel McAdams; Elle Woods, of course, was famously played by Reese Witherspoon.)

Legally Blonde writer Kiwi Smith revealed on an episode of the “Hollywood Gold” podcast that Spears was under consideration for the role—but when Smith saw Witherspoon in her breakout film, 1999’s Election, she knew she had found her Elle. “The name Britney Spears was briefly floated,” Smith said. “But then Election had just come out, and once we talked about Reese…It just felt like, ‘Oh my God, this is the woman to play Elle.’”

Spears mentioned almost starring in The Notebook and 2002’s Chicago in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me but has never commented about Legally Blonde—signifying “she may not have even been aware that she was considered for the role of Elle Woods,” Bustle reports.

Spears was clearly on the screenwriters’ minds, though—in one of the deleted scenes from the movie, Spears is referenced. In the clip, Elle tearfully walks into her bedroom, falls down on her bed, and tells her sorority sisters that her boyfriend, Warner, had broken up with her because he wanted to be with somebody more “serious.” One of her sorority sisters blamed Warner’s grandmother, which Elle denied. “No, she really likes me,” she said. “She told me I look like Britney Spears, and why would you say that to somebody you don’t like?” (Fair point.) 

As for The Notebook, “Everybody who was anybody that year wanted this part,” the film’s casting director Michael Barry said. In addition to Spears and McAdams, Claire Danes, Scarlett Johannsson, Amy Adams, Kate Bosworth, Jamie King, Mandy Moore, and Jessica Biel all went out for the role of Allie, The Daily Mail reports. Though The Notebook ultimately came out in 2004, Spears auditioned in 2002, the same year her film Crossroads came out; in her memoir, Spears expressed relief over not having to step back in front of the camera so soon after filming Crossroads, and said it allowed her to focus on her music.

“The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on The Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it,” Spears wrote in The Woman in Me. “If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone, I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.”

Of Spears’ audition, Barry said “Britney wasn’t just good—she was phenomenal. It was a tough decision. Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day.”

In the seven months since splitting from ex-wife Britney Spears, Sam Asghari has largely kept quiet about, well, pretty much everything—even as Spears released her bestselling memoir, The Woman in Me, in October, divulging so much about herself in the process.

But we’re hearing from Asghari now, per The Hollywood Reporter, but don’t expect to hear anything hateful from the actor, model, and fitness trainer: Asghari said he’ll “never” speak badly about his famous ex-wife, saying that “I had nothing but an amazing experience and a great life, and that’s always going to be a part of my life, a chapter of my life.” 

Ahead of his thirtieth birthday today (for context, Spears turned 42 in December), Asghari spoke to People and told the outlet that he looks back fondly on his 14-month marriage to Spears, which he referred to as a “blessing.” The two met in 2016, became engaged in 2021, and married in June 2022 before splitting last August.

“It was a blessing to be able to share life with someone for a long time,” he said. “And people grow apart, and people move on.”

Though Asghari was the one to file for divorce from Spears, he added that he holds no ill will towards her, and would much rather celebrate their years together: “I’ve always hated people leaving a certain relationship—and at some point they told each other they love each other and they sat at the same table and ate food [together]—so I never understood when people part ways [and] they talk badly about each other,” he said. “That’s something I’m never going to do.”

As he enters a new decade of his life, Asghari remains committed to maintaining a “healthy lifestyle” as he enters his thirties. “I used to think people that were 30 years old were so old when I was in high school,” he said. “But every person I talk to, the older they get, the more they get to enjoy life, because with age comes wisdom and experiences. And I think experiences in life are beautiful, so that’s something that I’m just super excited to just be fulfilled with.”

Asghari said he is filing his marriage and subsequent divorce from Spears into the “life experiences” category, and Asghari told People he plans to take everything in stride—and that, for now anyway, the only woman in his life is his Doberman, Porsha.

“I always have the most positive mindset about life,” he said. “My experiences in life have shaped me into the man I am today. I will continue growing. I come from a place where we celebrate our past. I look back fondly. My past was a blessing and beautiful.”

Spears and Asghari split, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “amid multiple reports of trouble in their marriage, including an explosive fight and allegations of infidelity,” the outlet reports. “The two had also been spotted separately before news of the divorce broke not wearing their wedding rings.”

At the time of their breakup, Asghari shared a statement on his Instagram Story that read “After 6 years of love and commitment to each other my wife and I have decided to end our journey together. We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always. S—t happens. Asking for privacy seems ridiculous so I will just ask for everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful.”

For her part, Spears took to her own Instagram account the day after to speak on the split: “6 years is a long time to be with someone so, I’m a little shocked but…I’m not here to explain why because its honestly nobody’s business !!!” she wrote. “But, I couldn’t take the pain anymore honestly!!! In some sort of telepathic way I have been receiving so many messages that melt my heart from friends and I thank you!!!” She continued “I’ve been playing it strong for way too long and my Instagram may seem perfect but it’s far from reality and I think we all know that!!! I would love to show my emotions and tears on how I really feel but some reason I’ve always had to hide my weaknesses!!! If I wasn’t my dad’s strong soldier, I would be sent away to places to get fixed by doctors!!! But that’s when I needed family the most!!! You’re supposed to be loved unconditionally…not under conditions!!!! So I will be as strong as I can and do my best!!! And I’m actually doing pretty damn good!!! Anyways have a good day and don’t forget to smile!!!”

According to Us Weekly, Spears signed an ironclad prenuptial agreement that tightly guards her estimated $60 million fortune, even though Spears “found it overwhelming to discuss the finer points like how much Sam would walk away with,” the outlet reports. The outlet added that Asghari will get “$1 million per every two years” of their marriage with a cap at $10 million after 15 years; he also waived any claims to Spears’ extensive music catalog. “Despite the details seemingly being hammered out before their split, Asghari has allegedly been trying to tweak their agreement,” Us Weekly writes.

In a cover story from January, sources told the publication that Spears wasn’t thrilled that the legal proceedings were dragging on. “Sam feels he should be compensated properly for everything he went through with Britney,” they said. “The exact amount he wants is being kept confidential, but he’s not happy with what Britney and her team have proposed. Britney is in no mood to be pushed around or rushed into signing over another huge check to Sam,” adding that Spears is determined to stay true to the terms laid out in their prenup. “She wants to stick to the letter of the paperwork and feels that’s all he’s entitled to—period.”

Britney Spears might just be a big fan of Janet Jackson's music (like the rest of us)—or she might be taking another swing at her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, Spears thanked Jackson for keeping her "dreams and heart alive."

"Thank you to this beautiful lady for keeping my dreams and heart alive," Spears wrote, "She's always been the deepest and brightest woman at the same time. She went through so much but I feel she is someone I will look up to for the rest of my life. Thank you for your music and your divine way of untangling intelligence to a far more clear view than anyone could ever imagine."

The heartfelt tribute was accompanied by a photo of Jackson's self-titled album, Janet, which was released back in 1993.

Spears and Jackson share more than musical prowess: they share a common enemy.

Spears and Timberlake's rocky history has recently resurfaced with the release of her memoir, The Woman In Me. In this autobiography, Spears discussed many aspects of her conservatorship and handling fame as a young woman. She also opened up about the darker aspects of her publicized relationship with Timberlake.

For example, she revealed that Timberlake repeatedly cheated on her while they were together, that he broke up with her in a two-word text message, that he pushed her to get an abortion, and that she suffered greatly from the fallout of their breakup.

A few weeks ago, Timberland seemingly shared his view on the criticism. Days after Spears said she was "in love with" his new song, the singer performed his 2002 hit "Cry Me a River" with a pretty pointed introduction.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f****** nobody," Timberlake announced.

Many assumed this was about Spears, but fans of Jackson actually thought it could be about her. As while Spears opened the floodgates to examine Timberlake's actions, she's far from the only woman he has wronged.

Back in 2004, Jackson brought out a young Timberlake as a guest during her Super Bowl Halftime show. (This was two years after his breakup with Spears.)

Towards the end of the song, Timberlake ripped Jackson's costume, revealing one of her breasts to the crowd. Timberlake claimed this was an accident, but many disagreed upon seeing the footage. He also did little to stop the barrage of criticism Jackson received, as she was essentially barred from the industry and blamed entirely for her wardrobe malfunction.

Finally, in 2021, Timberlake apologized to both Spears and Jackson for how he "benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism." However, he also went on to explain that this is the result of a "flawed" industry and "ignorance."

“Cry Me a River,” 2024 edition? After an (over)analysis—maybe.

Justin Timberlake released his new single, “Drown,” yesterday, and the track—which will appear on Timberlake’s forthcoming album Everything I Thought It Was, out March 15—seems to hint at a failed relationship. Many fans, naturally, think it’s about one Ms. Britney Spears. After all, it wouldn’t be the first or even the second time Timberlake has penned a song about his ex—2002’s “Cry Me a River” was about her, as was “What Goes Around…Comes Around,” which came out four years later, in 2006. 

Timberlake co-wrote “Drown” with Louis Bell, Henry Walter, Amy Allen, and Kenyon Dixon, and it reflects a relationship that went wrong after an ex “showed” him who they “really were.”

“You left me alone out in the dark with all of your demons,” Timberlake sings in the song’s first chorus. “Got caught up in the tide of all the tears you cried / You know I was blinded by my heart, sinking from the start / Should’ve never followed you this far / Now I’m in the deep end.”

Speculation that the song is about Spears and their messy breakup is running rampant, especially on the heels of the release last October of her memoir, The Woman in Me, where she heavily references her relationship with Timberlake (which lasted from 1999 to 2002). The pair broke up after rumors that Spears cheated on Timberlake with choreographer Wade Robson. 

Back to the “Drown” lyrics: Timberlake also questions if the relationship could have worked out had the situation been different. “Sometimes I sit and fantasize / Maybe sometime in another life / We could’ve got it right, got it right,” he sings in the bridge.

Timberlake, naturally, hasn’t confirmed who the song is about (and maybe never will). A source told Us Weekly that, after Spears’ tell-all came out, Timberlake was taken aback by how much he was featured in it: “Justin thought Britney might talk about their ups and downs in more general terms, not air out their very personal dirty laundry,” they said. “He’s disappointed she went this route decades after they split up.” A second source added back in October that Timberlake is remorseful, saying “Justin regrets that he hurt Britney. He was young. He thinks Britney has every right to tell her story and hopes they can move on now.”

There was hope for that, especially after Spears seemed to issue Timberlake an apology on Instagram. “I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book,” Spears wrote alongside a clip of Timberlake performing during a segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry. I also want to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’ It is so good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together I laugh so hard ???” 

Shortly after Spears’ apparent apology to Timberlake, he performed a show in New York and, while introducing “Cry Me a River,” he said, pointedly, “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f—king nobody”; Spears quickly retracted her apology.

“Someone told me someone was talking s—t about me on the streets !!!” she wrote on Instagram earlier this month. “Do you want me to bring it to the court or will you go home crying to your mom like you did last time ??? I’m not sorry !!!”

In regards to Timberlake using her as lyrical fodder, Spears wrote in The Woman in Me that he got “power” from “shaming” her for their breakup, and that she was labeled as a “cheating slut” and a liar. For his part, Timberlake opened up about “Cry Me a River” in his 2018 memoir Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me, writing that he wrote the hit after feeling “scorned” and “pissed off” about the split.

“The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it,” he wrote. “People heard me, and they understood it, because we’ve all been there.”

Ben Affleck's lips are sealed when it comes to talking about his alleged make out session with the princess of pop, Britney Spears.

According to Page Six, Affleck was asked about the alleged kiss by a paparazzo while taking a casual stroll in a Los Angeles residential neighborhood on Friday, Feb. 9.

"Good morning, Ben! Is it true what Britney Spears said—that you guys shared a kiss?” the paparazzo asked the Gone Girl actor.

Affleck was wearing a blue t-shirt underneath a blue sweater and a plaid jacket, paired with jeans and multi-colored Nike sneakers.

Affleck was smiling during his stroll... until he heard the question from the paparazzo. According to Page Six, his smile immediately faded and he kept walking, ignoring the question and instead heading straight to his car before driving away.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, Spears claimed that she "made out with Ben" years ago and completely forgot.

“Cool pic of me and Ben Affleck and Diane Warren years ago !!!” she wrote alongside a black-and-white image of all three arm in arm. “He’s such an amazing actor. Did I fail to mention I made out with Ben that night … I honestly forgot … damn that’s crazy!!!”

If our best guest at a timeline is accurate, that means the pair allegedly made out right before Spears started dating boy band member Justin Timberlake. At the same time, Affleck was likely dating or had just stopped dating his on-again, off-again girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow.

“Wish I could tell you guys the story that happened before that !!!" Spears continued to write in the caption of the vanished post. "Oh dear, I’m just being a gossip girl  !!! Psss I actually forgot  !!”

In 2015, Paltrow told radio jockey Howard Stern that at the time of the alleged make out session Affleck "was not in a good place in his life to have a girlfriend." Around the same time, despite rumors of a new romance, Spears told Rolling Stone that she had "no feelings at all" for Timberlake and, instead, was focused solely on her budding career.

There's no indication that Affleck plans to ever address the alleged incident, and since Spears deleted the controversial Instagram post it's likely that the issue will be put to bed.

But for a brief moment in time, we all had the moment when we realized Spears is likely the only person on the planet to allegedly make out with Affleck and completely forget about it.

The list of people who would forget making out with Ben Affleck is probably pretty slim, but it includes at least one person: Britney Spears.

Spears went down memory lane on Instagram yesterday, sharing a black-and-white photo of herself with Affleck and songwriter Diane Warren in 1999. (Warren wrote hits like Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me,” Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing,” and Christina Aguilera’s “I Turn to You.” For Spears specifically, she wrote “When Your Eyes Say It” off of Spears’ 2000 album Oops!...I Did It Again.) 

“Cool pic of me and Ben Affleck and Diane Warren years ago !!!” she wrote alongside the image. “He’s such an amazing actor. Did I fail to mention I made out with Ben that night … I honestly forgot … damn that’s crazy!!!”

Spears’ rendezvous with Affleck, if our timelines are correct, happened just before she began dating Justin Timberlake, who she was in a relationship with from 1999 to 2002. Affleck, for his part, was off-and-on with girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow from 1997 to 2000. 

“Wish I could tell you guys the story that happened before that !!!” Spears continued on Instagram. “Oh dear, I’m just being a gossip girl !!! Psss I actually forgot !!”

Spears and Timberlake sparked romance rumors in the spring of 1999, even though she told Rolling Stone at the time that she had “no feelings at all” for Timberlake and was laser-focused on her career. Of the same time period, Paltrow told Howard Stern in 2015 that Affleck “was not in a good place in his life to have a girlfriend.”

But a make out session with a pop princess—why not?

When a celebrity has something to say, they go one place above all else: Oprah Winfrey. And Page Six reports that’s what Justin Timberlake wants to do to clear up misconceptions and rumors surrounding his former relationship with Britney Spears, specifically the fallout from her revelations in her memoir, The Woman in Me, released last October.

“Justin is really not happy how things have gone down,” a source said, per The Daily Mail. “He wanted [his new] music to speak for itself, but that’s clearly not happening.” 

Even after the temperature surrounding Timberlake had cooled following the tell-all’s release four months ago, he found himself in hot water yet again last week, when he introduced a performance of his song “Cry Me a River” (which is about Spears) by saying he needed to apologize to “absolutely f—king nobody.”

“His comments onstage have only added fuel to the fire,” they said. “The idea of a sit-down chat with someone like Oprah Winfrey was floated months ago and is now back on the cards.”

Two days prior to Timberlake’s onstage comments, Spears apologized to anyone she “offended” with her memoir, in which she wrote extensively about her relationship with Timberlake. “I am deeply sorry,” she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. “I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’”

But after she learned of Timberlake’s comments, she was back on Instagram, writing “Someone told me someone was talking s—t about me on the streets !!! Do you want to bring it to the court or will you go home crying to your mom like you did last time ??? I’m not sorry !!!” she wrote alongside a stock image of a basketball hoop.

Timberlake’s new record, Everything I Thought It Was, drops March 15; he’ll go on tour to support the album from April to July. Page Six reports that Timberlake is “seething” over the negative press he’s received a la the Spears feud and is upset that it is “overshadowing his new music”: “Justin had hoped the backlash would’ve blown over by now so that he could focus on his new album, which he’s very excited about, but every day is something new,” they said.

Justin Timberlake said it himself: "What goes around... comes around."

According to Page Six, a source close to the Trolls star says he is "seething" because he believes the drama surrounding his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears is "overshadowing his new music."

“Justin had hoped the backlash (from Spears’ memoir) would’ve blown over by now so that he could focus on his new album, which he’s very excited about," the source told the publication. "But every day is something new."

Timberlake has been scrutinized for years for how he allegedly treated Spears during their relationship and many of the public comments and jokes he made about her in the years that followed, primarily about their sex life and her mental health.

In Spears’ bestselling, scathing memoir, The Woman in Me, the pop star said she was "described as a harlot who'd broken the heart of America's golden boy," after the former couple called it quits in 2002 and after three years of dating.

Shortly after their split, Timberlake alluded to rumors that Spears had been unfaithful by casting a Spears look-alike actress for his "Cry Me a River" music video.

“The truth: I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happy running around Hollywood," Spears wrote, before alleging that Timberlake had actually cheated on her "several times."

“There’s always more leeway in Hollywood for men than for women,” she added. “And I see how men are encouraged to talk trash about women in order to become famous and powerful. But I was shattered.”

in addition to the release of “Cry Me a River,” Timberlake repeatedly made crude and disrespectful comments about his sex life with Spears, BuzzFeed reports, and in the years that followed made public, not-so-thinly veiled jabs at Spear’s highly-publicized and scrutinized mental health condition.

Timberlake has yet to publicly comment on any of the allegations in Spears' memoir, but in December, 2023 seemed to allude to them during a performance at the opening of the Fountainbleau Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Before performing "Cry Me a River," Timberlake told the crowd: “No disrespect.” He then started singing the line: “But aren’t all just entertainers?” 

In January, Spears inexplicably apologized to Timberlake for the allegations she made in her memoir. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Spears wrote that she wanted to "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," the post continued. "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?"

Shortly after, Timberlake added fuel to the controversial fire he is allegedly so upset about by telling a New York crowd that in no uncertain terms he is done apologizing.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f****** nobody," Timberlake said, according to People.

Spears quickly responded with another Instagram post, TMZ reported, featuring a golden hour shot of the moon, clouds and a basketball hoop and one scathing caption.

"Someone told me someone was talking s*** about me on the streets !!! Do you want to bring it to the court or will you go home crying to your mom like you did last time???" the singer wrote. "I'm not sorry !!!"

If Timberlake is truly upset about how much oxygen this so-called revived "feud" is taking up, maybe.... don't talk about it?

Forget the apologies—one of the most iconic feuds of the 2000s is back in full force. After Justin Timberlake spent his 43rd birthday refusing to issue more apologies to his ex, Britney Spears has something to say about it.

Spears recently made her Instagram account private, but with 42 million followers, she's still reaching countless fans across the globe. According to TMZ, the star posted a golden hour shot of the moon and some clouds behind a basketball hoop. But it was the photo's caption, with pointed digs at Timberlake, that got fans talking.

"Someone told me someone was talking s*** about me on the streets !!! Do you want to bring it to the court or will you go home crying to your mom like you did last time??? I'm not sorry !!!" the "...Baby One More Time" singer wrote.

The punctuation-laden Instagram caption comes after Timberlake introduced a performance of "Cry Me a River" on Wednesday by saying he'd "like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f****** nobody."

Timberlake's bold statement (and not-so-subtle shade) came after he'd previously supported Spears during her high-profile conservatorship hearing, as well as after he apologized to both his ex and Janet Jackson. "I care for and respect these women and I know I failed," he wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post in February 2021.

Spears, too, apologized to the former *NSYNC member after writing about their relationship in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me. In the book, she revealed that she had an abortion during her relationship with Timberlake, which ended in 2002.

As for the jab at Timberlake's basketball prowess (or lack thereof), TMZ noted that in December, Spears wrote on Instagram that her ex cried when she beat him at the sport. Only time will tell whether Timberlake will take her up on the challenge to "bring it to the court"—or if fans can expect future diss tracks from the infamous exes.

Earlier this month Britney Spears vociferously declared, in no uncertain terms, that she was done with the music industry. Following reports that she was working on a new record, Spears cleared it up on Instagram on January 3, writing “Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!”

Okay, that’s her prerogative (see what we did there?), but Spears once again took to Instagram, clad in a sheer bodysuit and dancing, to announce a new project with a compelling title: “SEX N DIAMONDS.” But if it’s not new music—what, pray tell, is it? (And is it, you know, “Sex in Diamonds,” or “Sex and Diamonds”? Both intriguing, but, you know, we ask the tough questions around here.) 

Unfortunately, for now at least, Spears didn’t elaborate. Is it a part two of her record-breaking memoir, The Woman in Me? A tour? (Or does that count as a “return to the music industry”?) A reality show? A scripted show? Britney! We count on your honesty and transparency—and we need more details.

Page Six phrases it aptly when it describes Spears “gracefully prancing around in [a] sheer glittery ‘fit with floral designs covering her bosom,” adding that “her bodysuit, which she paired with brown platform heels, appeared to give fans hope she would be hitting the stage once again.” The caption, verbatim, read “Tease for new project coming up soon !!! SEX N DIAMONDS,” to which she also added an image with a bunch of flowers. 

“She’s picking up that pen again,” a fan wrote on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter). Another wrote “Gotta drop it ASAP.” (Agreed.) A third added “Mother is coming y’all.”

Spears’ insistence that she had kicked the music industry to the curb for good upset many a fan of hers (read: all of ‘em), but maybe—and excuse the speculation—she just meant that she was done with the music industry unless it was on her own terms? After all, in that same January 3 Instagram, she also wrote “When I write [music], I write for fun or I write for other people !!!” adding that she is a “ghostwriter” who has “written over 20 songs for other people” over the past two years.

Spears herself hasn’t dropped solo tracks in a while, but she was featured on “Hold Me Closer,” a collaboration with Elton John, in 2022, and “Mind Your Business” with will.i.am last year. Of working with John following the end of her conservatorship battle (which was terminated in 2021), she wrote in her memoir “Recording ‘Hold Me Closer’ and putting it out into the world was a fantastic experience. It didn’t feel good—it felt great.” She reiterated that her priority isn’t pushing her music forward, but rather to “find” herself.

“SEX N DIAMONDS.” Consider us intrigued, Britney.

Britney Spears seems to have apologized to ex Justin Timberlake for some of the more incendiary revelations she made about their relationship in her recent memoir The Woman in Me.

The "Toxic" singer took to Instagram to share a clip of Timberlake during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which the NSYNC alum, the host, and The Roots perform a Justin Timberlake song medley using kids' instruments.

In the caption, Spears wrote, "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… 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 ???

"Ps 'Sanctified' is wow too"

The star deactivated the comments on her post.

While Spears never named Timberlake as the person she was specifically apologizing to, instead writing the catch-all "people I genuinely care about," the juxtaposition of this with the Tonight Show video and praise for her long-ago ex' music doesn't really leave much doubt as to who the post was aimed towards.

Aditionally, The Woman in Me contained quite a few revelations concerning Timberlake which he likely would have preferred to keep out of the public eye, such as the fact that he cheated on Spears during their three-year relationship and the fact that the "Baby One More Time" songstress had an abortion at the time—in part because, in her own words, Justin "said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young."

Spears' semi-cryptic apology comes just days after Timberlake's new song, titled "Selfish," made headlines when Brit's fans seized the opportunity to get her own song titled "Selfish" (from 2011) to chart, as retribution of sorts.

Clearly, Spears is determined not to have bad blood with Timberlake; she just wanted to tell her story, which she has every right to do, frankly.

Once upon a time, in a land not-at-all that far away—a halcyon time known as the early 2000s—there lived a boy and a girl. This boy and this girl were The Most Famous Singers Ever, and the culture never stopped talking about them and their Truest Forever Love. The duo were seemingly destined to be together forever, the reigning King and Queen of Pop Music. One day, however, the boy broke the girl's heart, and we've been hearing about it ever since—mostly from his point of view, where he led the world to believe that the girl was the only one in the wrong.

Well, the trolls (ahem) have come home to roost in their, uh, troll holes, delighting in the roasting of a one Mr. Justin Timberlake and his new single, "Selfish."

Because guess who also has a song titled "Selfish"? And guess whose fans are determined to make sure Timberlake never forgets what he did?

If you guessed Britney Spears, you are correct!

The former *NSYNCer hit the world with the music video for his new single, "Selfish" on January 25th, only for fans of Ms. Spears to immediately push her own, 15-year-old track—also titled "Selfish"—onto the iTunes top 10 as a trollish act of retribution.

And while Timberlake's new tune landed him in the top spot on the iTunes chart Friday morning, Spears' song is currently sitting pretty at number 5, and it could chart even higher, thanks to her passionate fan base.

With the release of Spears' memoir, The Woman in Me, back in October 2023, there seems to be a reconsideration and re-contextualization of not only Spears, but her relationship with Timberlake, and how that relationship suffered thanks to the particularly toxic and misogynistic culture of the early aughts. It's a suffering that one might argue Timberlake utilized to his own advantage, manipulating the conversation around their breakup to look like he was an innocent victim of infidelity.

It's a funny thing, isn't it? This culture war over a relationship that's been over for decades? Let's just hope this trolling keeps Timberlake and his team in check: nobody wants this man to use Spears' story—again!—to create a narrative for his new album's release. Ahem.

If you read Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me last fall and were immediately inspired to go watch her 2002 film Crossroads, you’re not alone. (*Writer raises hand*) The problem? It was nowhere to be found on streaming services—but that’s about to change.

For the first time ever, Netflix is bringing Crossroads to its lineup, and soon. It will begin streaming on February 15, Netflix announced: “The first movie to ever star the one and only britney spears has never been available on streaming…but that’s about to change!” the caption read on the streaming giant’s announcement, alongside a photo of the Crossroads poster. “So thrilled to announce that CROSSROADS will finally be available on netflix GLOBALLY starting february 15.” 

In addition to the star power of Spears, the movie also stars Zoe Saldaña, Taryn Manning, Kim Cattrall, Justin Long, and Dan Aykroyd in a film written by none other than Shonda Rhimes. Just in case you missed Crossroads’ first go ‘round 22 years ago, the film is “The story of three childhood friends Lucy, Kit, and Mimi who, after eight years apart, rediscover their friendship on a cross-country trip,” the movie’s description reads. “With barely a plan, practically no money, but plenty of dreams, the girls catch a lift with Mimi’s handsome friend Ben in his convertible.”

Though the movie was, ahem, not a hit with critics, it was a box office success, grossing more than $60 million in 2002, equivalent to a solid $101 million today when adjusted for inflation, Entertainment Tonight reports.

Though it has never appeared on streaming services until now, in October—timed with the release of Spears’ book—Crossroads was rereleased in 874 theaters across 20 countries for a special fan event. At the time, the film’s director Tamra Davis thanked those responsible for giving the movie a second chance at life: “I am beyond thrilled that Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records, and Trafalgar Releasing are re-releasing Crossroads in movie theaters,” Davis said in a statement. “I recently re-watched Crossroads and was so enthralled with the time capsule of nostalgia that this incredible ensemble cast brings to the screen. Britney is absolutely breathtaking to watch, and Shonda is showing us her early expertise in writing complicated female characters. We had the best time in the world making this picture and the connection the actresses bring to their performances shows in every frame. The music will undoubtedly have audiences dancing and singing along, and I know everyone will have as much fun watching these scenes as we had making them. I’m so grateful that Crossroads will be available so people can see Britney shine again.”

Britney Spears is not releasing new music, she has assured fans amid rumors of a potential new album.

"Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!!" the Woman in Me author wrote on Instagram.

"They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!

"When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people !!! For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me … I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!!"

She added, "People are also saying MY BOOK WAS RELEASED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL ILLEGALLY and that’s far from the truth … have you read the news these days ??? I’m so LOVED and blessed !!!"

The star disabled the comments on the post, but it has garnered close to 93k likes at time of writing.

Spears' clarification comes after rumors spread this week that she could be releasing a new album in 2024, something that would be sure to delight her many fans around the world.

Said album was rumored to potentially feature songs written by the likes of Charli XCX and Julia Michaels, which may be who Spears was referring to as "random people."

Spears stopped performing after her Las Vegas residency ended in 2017, and has only released one piece of music since: a duet with Elton John on his hit "Tiny Dancer."

Instead of music, Spears has been working on her memoir (which was released in October), and rebuilding her life on her terms following both the end of her 13-year conservatorship arrangement and the breakdown of her short marriage to Sam Asghari.

I wholeheartedly support the superstar's process, and in the meantime, you can find me binge-listening to the OG bops. "Born to Make You Happy," anyone?

If 2023 was the year of the memoir for Britney Spears (her tell-all, The Woman in Me, was a bona fide bestseller), then, blessedly, 2024 looks to be the year of new music for the Princess of Pop.

Page Six reports that Charli XCX and Julia Michaels have been tapped to write for the forthcoming release, which will be Spears’ first in eight years; her last album release was 2016’s Glory. This new record will be Spears’ tenth—a milestone to which ample attention must be paid. 

The outlet reports that Spears “has not recorded any new material yet, as the project is only starting to take shape,” but that chart-topping songwriters are lining up to work with her. (Can you blame them?)

So much has happened in Spears’ life since 2016: her 13-year conservatorship ended in 2021, she married Sam Asghari in 2022 and divorced him the next year, and, well, she wrote a book. Speaking of the book, the tome was Spears’ biggest focus but, now that it’s released, it frees up time and attention for more music. “She has an upcoming writers’ camp and is getting songs from some big artists,” a source told Page Six last year. 

“The Britney album is being kept top secret,” a source told The Sun. “Work has been going on behind the scenes for quite a while to gather a series of killer songs to bring Britney back with a bang. She is known as one of the biggest pop stars of the 21st century, so there is pressure for the music to be great.”

Spears previously worked with Michaels on seven tracks from Glory, including the single “Slumber Party.” Charli, meanwhile, submitted demos for Spears’ 2013 album Britney Jean to no avail. “Nothing ended up on there, but I’m honored anytime Britney calls, obviously,” the singer said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2022. “What a queen.” 

Tying it all up with a bow, this month marks the 25-year anniversary of Spears’ first album, the chart-topping and career-making blockbuster debut …Baby One More Time.

Britney Spears is open to reconciling with her estranged mother, Lynne Spears, but wants it to "unfold organically," a source told Us Weekly.

"Britney understands that her mom would have loved for her to visit for Christmas but she just felt like it was too soon,” a source told the publication. “Britney is open to repairing her relationship with Lynne but she wants things to unfold organically and not force anything.”

The source went on to say that the pop star is "in a really good place" and "would love to continue maintaining her relationship with her mom," but also wants to "take her time."

"She doesn't feel like there's a need to rush anything," the source added.

Britney Spears' relationship with her mom has been strained since she was subjected to a 13-year conservatorship in 2008, which was mostly managed by her father, Jamie Spears.

The conservatorship ended in 2021 after a public legal battle, in which Britney Spears testified that the conservatorship was "abusive."

In her memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney Spears accused both her mother and her father of taking her "womanhood" as a result.

She also accused her family of throwing away the possessions she stored at her mom's home in Louisiana, including her childhood collection of Madame Alexander dolls and three years' worth of writing.

In November, Lynne Spears publicly responded to her daughter's allegations, sharing photos of the dolls and writings on Instagram.

"I'm not sure who told you I got rid of your dolls and journals but I would never do that! That would be cruel because I know how much they mean to you," Lynne Spears wrote in the caption. "They are special to me too because of the years we spent collecting them. Of course I still have your things, and I am happy to send them to you if you'd like me to. Please let me know and know how much I love you!"

In August, 2022, Lynne Spears shared a photo of her and her daughter laughing and wrapping one arm around each other on Instagram.

"Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! And also, I have tried my best to help you out of hardships! I have never and will never turn my back on you!" Lynne Spears captioned the post. "Your rejections to the countless times I have flown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this talk is for you and me only, eye to eye, in private."

In May, Britney Spears revealed that she had connected with her mother for the first time in three years, sharing a photo of Instagram of herself as a child.

"My sweet mama showed up at my door step yesterday after 3 years … it’s been such a long time … with family there’s always things that need to be worked out … but time heals all wounds!!!" Britney Spears captioned the post. "And after being able to communicate what I’ve held in for an extremely long time, I feel so blessed we were able to try to make things RIGHT !!! I love you so much!!! Psss… I’m so blessed we can have coffee together after 14 years!!! Let’s go shopping afterwards!!!"

It has been eight years since Britney Spears has given the world the gift of a new album, and the long wait is almost over.

Sources close to the star claim that she has been working on her new album and that it should be released in 2024. This is twenty-five years after her debut album, making it the perfect way to mark this momentous anniversary.

Spears took a step back from music to fight her conservatorship, only recently dipping her toe back into things. She was featured on Elton John's song, "Hold Me Closer" in 2022, and then on Will.i.am's song, "Mind Your Business", earlier this year. The latter received a mixed response.

It's safe to say that Spears is warmed up and ready to give us some great music!

What can we expect from this new album? Well, you can expect the excellent musical stylings of Charli XCX.

The prolific songwriter has created songs for notable acts like Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani, Blondie, Camila Cabello, and more. Charli is also renowned for her own discography, with hits like "Speed Drive" and "Boom Clap."

A source told The Sun that Charli has already been in the studio with Spears' specifications and laid down some tracks for the star. The two stars are yet to meet in person, apparently.

The source claimed, “[Charli] came up with a really strong track that is expected to make it on to the album, which Britney’s team hope will be out in 2024.”

The only thing better than this news would be if Charli herself is featured on one of the songs! Either way, this is Spears' first album since she was freed, so it is an exciting milestone for fans.

It's common to ruminate on the past and feel reflective as another year ends, and pop icon Britney Spears is—apparently—no different.

On Tuesday, Dec. 19, Spears shared a photo on Instagram of the remains of the home gym she accidentally burned down in April, 2020. In the picture, fans can see what was left behind at the time—blackened, smoke-covered barbells, a non-slip, charred pink balance ball, and other destroyed workout items that (somewhat) survived the fire.

"Reflecting back remembering when I burnt the gym down in 2020 😉🤔 !!!" the 42-year-old mother of two captioned the post.

Back in 2020, in a now unavailable live-streamed Instagram video, Spears announced that a mishap with a few candles led to her gym accidentally burning down inside her home.

“Hi guys, I’m in my gym right now. I haven’t been in here for like six months because I burnt my gym down, unfortunately,” Spears said at the time, as reported by CNN back in 2020.

“I had two candles, and yeah, one thing led to another, and I burned it down,” she continued, adding that—thankfully—no one was harmed by the unfortunate incident.

“I walked past the door to the gym and flames BOOM!!!!!!" Spears captioned the Instagram video at the time, elaborating on the details of the incident. "By the Grace of God the alarm went off after that and yippy hoorah nobody got hurt."

According to Spears at the time, the fire devastated the majority of her at-home workout equipment.

“Unfortunately now I have only two pieces of equipment left lol and a one-sided mirror gym,” she wrote. “But it could be much worse so I’m grateful.”

Spears might be contemplating the past as of late, but that doesn't mean she's feeling down in the dumps. In a follow-up Instagram post, Spears left a cryptic message promising "revelations." In it, she wears a short, form-fitting, off-the-shoulder red dress and a matching red cowboy hat while, um, giving the camera "the finger."

Yes, that finger.

"When that bird comes up well … are you guessing revelations ??? YOU KNOW 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️😉😉😉 !!! Pss hands on hips honestly !!! Sorry in advance !!!" Spears captioned the mysterious post.

The pop superstar might be feeling somewhat apologetic about her 2020 gym fire mishap, but whatever is coming next doesn't seem to be weighing on her conscience in the slightest!

He doesn’t have to say what he did… she already knows. 

During a performance at the opening of the Fountainbleau Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada on Wednesday, Dec. 13, Justin Timberlake seemed to allude to Britney Spears’ scathing memoir, The Woman in Me: Spears, Britney ,before performing “Cry Me a River.” 

As the music for the now-controversial song started, Timberlake told the crowd: “No disrespect.” He then started singing the line: “But aren’t all just entertainers?” 

Subtle, Justin. 

Timberlake, 42, has been scrutinized in the past for how he treated Spears, 42, following their public breakup in 2002 after three years of dating. 

But the scrutiny has intensified after the release of Spears’ highly-anticipated memoir, in which she dished on her relationship with Timberlake, their breakup and how she was treated as a result of both his comments and his song “Cry Me a River.”

Fans (and the press) speculated that Spears cheated on Timberlake—a rumor Timberlake seemed all-too-happy to lean into. Shortly after the breakup, Timberlake released his second solo single, “Cry Me a River”—a song about a breakup following an infidelity, featuring lyrics like “you don’t have to say, what you did, I already know.” 

To add fuel to the conjecture fire, Timberlake purposefully cast a Spears lookalike to play his cheating girlfriend in the music video. Classy.

In her memoir, Spears opened up about the shame she endured as a result of the rumors Timberlake perpetuated with his, shall we say, musical choices. 

“In the news media, I was described as a harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy,” she wrote. “The truth: I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happy running around Hollywood.” 

Spears went on to write that on Timberlake’s “explosive album and in all the press that surrounded it,” her ex “neglected to mention that several times he cheated on me?” 

“There’s always more leeway in Hollywood for men than for women,” she added. “And I see how men are encouraged to talk trash about women in order to become famous and powerful. But I was shattered.”

Following their split and in addition to the release of “Cry Me a River,” Timberlake repeatedly made crude and disrespectful comments about his sex life with Spears, as BuzzFeed reports, and in the following years made public, not-so-thinly veiled jabs at Spear’s mental health.

In her memoir, Spears alleges that it was actually Timberlake who was unfaithful—multiple times over—and revealed that she had a secret abortion prior to Timberlake breaking up with her via text message. She described the decision to terminate her pregnancy as “one of the most agonizing things” she had ever done, adding that Timberlake was playing guitar while she was “crying and sobbing” on the bathroom floor after she had her abortion. 

Timberlake has yet to sufficiently comment on Spears’ memoir or her allegations, and has since turned off public comments on his Instagram following growing calls for him to publicly apologize to Spears. 

In October, a source close to Timberlake told ET that in recent years Timberlake “has tried to be supportive of Britney from a distance,” adding that he “still has respect for her.”

In her memoir, Spears says that she doesn’t think “Justin realized the power he had in shaming me.” 

“I don’t think he understands to this day,” she wrote.

After marrying Sam Asghari in June 2022, Britney Spears likely thought she would never be single again—but, after their split in August after just 14 months of marriage, the singer is reflecting on her relationship status on social media, saying it is “so weird being single.”

In the lengthy post shared yesterday, Spears writes “I’ve had a lot of time to really look back with all the good and bad. I’ve realized I don’t talk to myself that nicely at all … I’m easily manipulated and I wear my heart on my sleeve … But I’m definitely changing all that.” 

Spears was with Asghari for a total of seven years before their breakup and added that she’s “honestly bored” from doing the “same thing every day” as a single woman. Yet, she writes, she’s proud of her life: “The way I live my life is mine,” she continued, adding, “I’ve had so many people interfere with that … But to know it’s ok to be selfish with my life and enjoy it is amazing !!!”

The reflective post was written alongside a photograph of a nun drinking through a straw from a teacup.

A source told People of Spears close to her split four months ago that, despite everything, she was still “in great spirits despite everything going on.” 

“Obviously it’s never an easy thing to go through, but she’s remaining positive and focusing on the future,” they said, noting at the time that Spears was “focused on her book release, has an upcoming writers’ camp, and is getting songs from some big artists.”

In the four months since Spears and Asghari split, Spears had a monumental late October and early November as her memoir, The Woman in Me, sold over 1 million copies during its first week of availability. At the time, Spears shared that she was “grateful to my fans and readers around the world for their unwavering support.”

Britney Spears has spoken very candidly about her differences with mom Lynne Spears over the years, especially during her conservatorship and in the aftermath of it.

But it's now looking like the superstar and her mom may be on the road to reconciliation, after Lynne attended Britney's birthday party recently (her birthday is on Dec. 2, and she is a Sagittarius queen). Britney's brother Bryan was also there to celebrate her.

Lynne is trying really hard to make up with her eldest daughter, a source has told People.

The insider added that the singer "is still hurt, because she feels her mom could have done more to help her, but she has very few friends and really needs to just be with family."

The source added, "Her mom does love her. There is no doubt about that," and also claimed that "Britney can be very stubborn," but that Lynne is "very apologetic to Britney" and "takes full blame."

After Lynne was spotted leaving Britney's party, a source told People, "Being together and celebrating her birthday was a really nice moment for the family."

Back in May, Britney wrote on Instagram, "My sweet mama showed up at my door step yesterday after 3 years … it’s been such a long time … with family there’s always things that need to be worked out … but time heals all wounds !!! And after being able to communicate what I’ve held in for an extremely long time, I feel so blessed we were able to try to make things RIGHT !!! I love you so much !!!

"Psss… I’m so blessed we can have coffee together after 14 years !!! Let’s go shopping afterwards !!!"

Around the time Britney's conservatorship ended, however, she accused Lynne of originating the idea for it, even though her dad Jamie was the one to act as her conservator.

"Pssss my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago … but what people don’t know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea !!!! I will never get those years back …. she secretly ruined my life," Britney wrote on Instagram at the time.

Hopefully, the two women are on their way to finding a way forward for their relationship.

Jamie Lynn Spears, who has been incredibly candid on the U.K. reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here (including about her older sister Britney), is no longer a part of the show, citing “medical grounds,” People reports.

Spears left the show yesterday, which is filmed in Australia, and her fellow teammates have been informed that she won’t be returning. Her last appearance on the show was last night’s episode that aired in the U.K.

“Jamie Lynn Spears has left on medical grounds,” a spokesperson for ITV said. “She’s been a fantastic campmate who has triumphed at trials and bonded with her fellow celebrities.”

Her exit comes not long after she spoke openly about her older sister, saying that she’s the one person in Britney’s life who has “never taken anything from her,” that the two had a “complicated upbringing,” and that if Britney had her way, “she’d probably be like, ‘Y’all get her [Jamie Lynn] out of there, right now!’”

Spears herself addressed her departure on Instagram: “I can’t wait to share with y’all everything about this once in a lifetime experience, but I don’t even know where to start when trying to describe what an incredibly special time and place I had with some of the absolute best humans I have ever met and consider family now,” she wrote. “THANK YALL for welcoming me into your living rooms night after night, and for supporting me through all the highs and lows. I’m am [sic] so grateful for this show, and all of the wonderful people apart of it! I will be taking some time to recover, and spend time with my family, but looking forward to sharing all about my journey on @imacelebrity with everyone! LOVE YALLLL.”

Spears had expressed homesickness on the show, which pushes celebrity contestants to the limit. “I am absolutely frightened of everything,” Spears said ahead of the season 23 premiere, per an ITV press release. She said she was “wildly excited and nervous” about going on the show and was ready to show who she really is: “There is literally every misconception you can have on a person about me, so I don’t take any of it seriously,” she said.

Her reality show turn comes not long after she appeared on another reality show of sorts—Dancing with the Stars, from where she was eliminated in mid-October. 

Despite their ups and downs, Jamie Lynn Spears said on the latest episode of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here that Britney is “a good big sister. She is. I love her. Me and her throw down. The world’s seen that. I’ve learned to stop talking about it publicly, but you know what? Families fight. Listen—we just do it better than most.”

Per Us Weekly, Jamie Lynn—who is currently competing on the U.K. reality show—also said that she is the “one person” in Britney’s life that has “never taken anything from her.” 

“Me and her both have had a very complicated upbringing,” Jamie Lynn said. “We’ve had very complicated circumstances and we both had to deal with them in different ways. And sometimes we took it out on each other when perhaps we shouldn’t have.”

Jamie Lynn told fellow competitor Sam Thompson that Britney was concerned about her before she left for the show, which began filming earlier this month: “I could imagine she’d be worried about me out here,” she said. “I think she’s probably checking in on me heavily. I do think she’s probably like, ‘Why would she do that?’ She asked me that before I came here. She was like, ‘You’re really going to do it?’ I was like, I don’t know if I can say, ‘I’m going to go to Australia and check it out.’”

When Thompson asked what she thought Britney would think of Jamie Lynn on the show thus far, Jamie Lynn joked, “Me crying—she’d probably be like, ‘Y’all get her out of there, right now!’”

In another episode of the show, Jamie Lynn said that she and Britney had spoken since her sister released her bestselling memoir, The Woman in Me, on October 24. “I think every family fights and has their stuff,” Jamie Lynn said. “But I talked to her before I came here, and we love each other.”

In the book, Britney addresses her contentious relationship with her younger sister, even at one point referring to Jamie Lynn as a “total bitch.” Britney also called Jamie Lynn out for not doing enough to help Britney fight her 13-year conservatorship under their father, Jamie Spears, which began in 2008 and ended in 2021. In The Woman in Me, Britney wrote of that time that “As I was fighting the conservatorship and receiving a lot of press attention, she was writing a book capitalizing on it,” referring to Jamie Lynn’s memoir, Things I Should Have Said. “She rushed out salacious stories about me, many of them hurtful and outrageous.” 

Jamie Lynn wrote on Instagram “Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to with a hashtag on a public platform, but I can assure you I’ve supported my sister long before there was a hashtag,” she wrote in June 2021, five months before the conservatorship ended in November of that year. “And I’ll support her long after. Note that.” She continued “I’m so proud of her for using her voice…I support my sister. I love my sister. Always have, always will.”

Britney Spears’ bombshell memoir, The Woman in Me, has only been on shelves for three weeks, but it has broken a slew of records—and a screen adaptation is coming, Page Six reports. The rights to the tell-all are currently being fought over by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, who would produce the movie or television series, the outlet reports.

Interestingly, Page Six reports that Shonda Rhimes—who wrote Spears’ 2002 movie Crossroads—doesn’t have her name in the hat for the book’s rights. “Shondaland is not pursuing this project,” a spokesperson for the company said. 

As the book is just three weeks post-release, the planned adaptation is still in its very early stages, but interest continues to mount: “It’s only beginning to take shape,” a source said.

Page Six reports that Spears apparently rescheduled a recent meeting with an unnamed top producer “at the last minute” because she “didn’t feel up to it,” and that she is “overwhelmed by the response” and the “media frenzy surrounding it.” Her team is “hold[ing] off on making any major decisions about where the rights end up until she has time to catch her breath,” they said.

Spears is also apparently in talks for a documentary in which she will participate—to the tune of $40 million.

If you’re among the three people who haven’t yet read The Woman in Me (or its rampant coverage in the media), Spears reveals details about her three-year relationship with Justin Timberlake (including terminating a pregnancy), her 13-year conservatorship, her rise to fame, relationships and marriages, and more. It topped The New York Times’ bestseller list, selling 1.1 million copies in the U.S. in its first week alone.

Justin Timberlake has officially left the building—or the country, at least, jetting off to Mexico with his family.

The singer was seen touching down in Cabo San Lucas yesterday via private jet, his younger son, Phineas, in his arms; his wife, Jessica Biel, and older son Silas were said to be nearby. It was the first time Timberlake had been seen publicly since Spears’ tell-all, The Woman in Me, hit shelves a week ago. 

Since then, Timberlake has shut down the comments section across his entire Instagram account, Page Six reports, because of the “hateful, disgusting things people were saying” on his posts, the outlet reports. Unfortunately, because the internet is awful, that vitriol seems to have now turned to Biel, who limited but didn’t totally disable what comments could be left on her page.

Though Timberlake hasn’t commented publicly on the book’s contents, in February 2021 he shared a lengthy Instagram post where he apologized for past treatment of Spears and Janet Jackson, who he performed with in the 2004 Super Bowl. “I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism,” he wrote. “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.” 

Also in 2021, Timberlake posted on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) in support of Spears’ 13-year conservatorship ending, which happened in November 2021: “We should all be supporting Britney at this time,” he wrote. “Regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it was…what’s happening to her is just not right. No woman should ever be restricted from making decisions about her own body. No one should EVER be held against their will…or ever have to ask permission to access everything they’ve worked so hard for.”

Spooky season is here, and out come the Halloween costumes—though we've still got 48 hours to go until the big day, this weekend, fueled in particular by the Casamigos Halloween party on Friday night, already has us assessing which costumes are our favorites. Here's who made the list.

Kourtney Kardashian as sister Kim, circa 2013

Though Kourtney Kardashian is due with her fourth child (a boy, and her first with husband Travis Barker) any day now, she couldn't let Halloween pass by without participating. For the holiday, she brought out an archived piece: younger sister Kim's 2013 (largely panned) look she wore to the Met Gala, while Kim was heavily pregnant with her first child, daughter North.

North West as dad Kanye's "Dropout Bear"

Halloween is a big deal to the Kardashian family, and, speaking of North West, she channeled her dad Kanye's "Dropout Bear" for her costume this year. The bear first appeared on the cover of West's 2004 album The College Dropout; the bear wore the exact outfit North is wearing on the cover of his 2007 album, Graduation.

Kendall Jenner as Marilyn Monroe

Kendall Jenner hosted her own Halloween party this weekend, and the hostess with the most-est turned it out as Marilyn Monroe for the occasion.  Guests at Jenner's party included Billie Eilish, Channing Tatum, and Zoe Kravitz, among others.

Paris Hilton and Jessica Alba as Britney Spears in the "Toxic" music video

We liked these two looks, both from different parts of Britney Spears' 2003 music video for her single "Toxic," so much that we made an entire post about it. (Hilton makes the list again in the "Honorable mentions" section, this time for dressing as another pop icon: Katy Perry.)

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly as characters from "Kill Bill"

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly arrived at the Casamigos party as bloody characters from the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, Fox as schoolgirl assassin Gogo Yubari (complete with blood pouring from her eyes) and Kelly in the yellow jumpsuit famously worn by Uma Thurman.

Separately: Justin Bieber as a snorkeler and Hailey Bieber as both a vampire and Rachel Green from "Friends"

The Biebers divided and conquered Halloween this weekend, Justin at the Casamigos party in a pink and orange Hawaiian shirt complete with a snorkel and flippers, and Hailey on Instagram in two looks: a vampire and, in a total 180, Rachel Green from Friends.

Together: Justin and Hailey Bieber as the Flintstones 

Name a more iconic couple than Justin and Hailey: the Flintstones? Potentially. After Justin attended the Casamigos party Friday night solo (see above), the Biebers stepped out jointly, dressed as characters from the iconic television show for a party Saturday night.

Lizzo as Tina Turner

Lizzo has not been shy about her admiration of the legendary Tina Turner, who died this past May; as a tribute, Lizzo channeled Turner in her Halloween costume, paying homage to Turner in a dazzling manner befitting a fellow superstar.

Kelsea Ballerini as Margot Robbie's Barbie

Somebody had to do it, and it was Kelsea Ballerini who channeled one of the most iconic characters of 2023, Margot Robbie's Barbie from the blockbuster Greta Gerwig film of the same name, for a Halloween party in New York City.

Honorable mentions

The Casamigos Halloween party was the see-and-be-seen celebrity event last night, and two celebrities—Paris Hilton and Jessica Alba—paid homage to Britney Spears, supporting the newly minted bestselling author without ever saying a word.

Hilton and Alba arrived separately to the party, but both arrived wearing a style Spears sported in her iconic 2003 music video for her hit “Toxic,” E! News reports. Hilton, a longtime friend of Spears, wore a teal flight attendant costume (her husband, Carter Reum, attended the party as well, dressed up as a pilot). To drive home the point of supporting Spears, Hilton posted a video to Instagram of her walking and modeling the outfit to the tune of the intro of Spears’ 2007 hit “Gimme More,” as Hilton lip-synced the line “It’s Britney, bitch.”

“In honor of our Queen,” Hilton captioned her post. “Happy Halloween. #IconsOnly.”

Alba, for her part, wore a sparkling nude bodysuit reminiscent of another look from the “Toxic” video. She was accompanied by Baby2Baby co-CEO Kelly Sawyer Patricof, who arrived in a schoolgirl costume a la Spears’ 1998 “…Baby One More Time” video.

The Halloween party came just three days after Spears released her bombshell memoir, The Woman in Me, where she had high praise for Hilton. Among the many revelations in the book, Spears shared that her and Hilton’s partying days in the early 2000s were “never as wild” as the press “made it out” to be; of Hilton specifically, Spears wrote “So much of America dismissed her as a party girl, but I found her elegant—the way she posed on the red carpet and always had an arched eyebrow when anyone was mean about her.” Spears also praised Hilton for helping her “so much” when she was “suffering” from her breakup with Kevin Federline, writing “She was just so sweet to me.”

In addition to Hilton and Alba, the Casamigos Halloween party was filled with boldfaced names like Justin Bieber, Jodie Turner-Smith, Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber (who is a cofounder of Casamigos), and their daughter Kaia Gerber and her boyfriend, Austin Butler, to name a few.

Justin Timberlake apparently confronted dancer and choreographer Wade Robson over his alleged affair with Britney Spears—while Spears hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, Page Six reports.

Not long before Timberlake broke up with Spears via a two-word text message while Spears shot a music video, Timberlake joined his then-girlfriend on February 2, 2002, at the NBC show’s iconic 30 Rock studios in Manhattan. What no one knew at the time was, just days before, Timberlake “had found a lengthy breakup note she had written to Robson,” Page Six reports.

“Britney was pulling double duty as a musical guest and host [on SNL],” a former production source told the outlet. “Justin had found a letter which made it clear that the affair had been going on for months, and that she and Wade had been sleeping together. He had been trying to get a hold of Wade and finally got him on the phone as Britney was in the middle of SNL. If you watch closely, you will see that he did not join Britney onstage at the end of the show when she thanked them.” (Excuse us while we go try to find SNL archives from 2002…)

After the taping ended, Spears and Timberlake “spent 40 minutes huddled in her dressing room before heading to the afterparty they were hosting at Serafina,” Page Six reports. One month later, their three-year relationship was over.

In Spears’ recently released memoir, The Woman in Me, she confessed that she did cheat on Timberlake with Robson (after discovering that Timberlake had cheated on her), but wrote that she and Robson merely kissed. “We were out one night and we went to a Spanish bar,” she wrote of Robson. “We danced and danced. I made out with him that night.” 

That said, per Page Six, last week singer-songwriter Annet Artani—who helped Spears write “Everytime” in 2003—said that Timberlake found a 14-page breakup letter from Spears to Robson, and hinted that the “affair was more serious than a kiss,” the outlet reports.

Back to that night’s episode of SNL: Timberlake actually joined Spears onstage—along with comedian Chris Kattan—to be a part of a joke in which Kattan claimed he was Spears.

“I know how to settle this,” Spears said in the skit. “Justin, can you come out here for a second?” Timberlake walked onstage to screams from fans, telling Spears, “Listen, I just want to say I had a really great time last night.”

“Justin, that was not me,” Spears said.

“Kattan, you gotta stop doing that, man!” Timberlake yelled, before introducing his girlfriend by saying, “Britney Spears is here!” He then joked, “Baby, are you sure it wasn’t you?”

Jessica Biel is understandably not thrilled that husband Justin Timberlake is going through it as a result of some of the more controversial revelations made by Britney Spears in her new memoir, The Woman in Me.

"Jessica feels bad for Britney," a source told Us Weekly about the actress' reaction. That said, "it’s hard for her to watch Justin be trolled on social media and targeted by Britney fans," they added. "She thinks Justin’s learned from his mistakes and deserves to live in peace."

Us Weekly's source also confirmed that Biel knew about the abortion Spears had during her three-year relationship with Timberlake back in the early 2000s, which the "Toxic" singer opened up about for the first time in her book.

In The Woman in Me, Spears also revealed that Timberlake repeatedly cheated on her while they were together, that she once kissed another man, that he broke up with her in a two-word text message, and that she suffered greatly from the fallout of their breakup.

A second source told Us Weekly, "Justin thought Britney might talk about their ups and downs in more general terms—not air out their very personal, dirty laundry," they said. "He’s disappointed she went this route decades after they split up."

I think it's important we pause here to note that Spears' reputation suffered as a result of Timberlake's actions after their breakup, most notably his music video for Cry Me a River.

That said, the first source denied that Timberlake wanted Spears to stay silent. "Justin regrets that he hurt Britney. He was young," they said. "He thinks Britney has every right to tell her story and hopes they can move on now."

Now that's more like it.

They say to never meet your heroes, but when you're Britney Spears and said hero is Mariah Carey the rules don't necessarily apply. In Spears' new memoir, The Woman In Me, the 41-year-old superstar detailed the beauty advice she picked up upon meeting Carey for the first time during an awards show in the early 2000s.

"I knocked on Mariah Carey's dressing room door. She opened it and out poured the most beautiful, otherworldly light. You know how we all have ring lights now? Well, more than twenty years ago, only Mariah Carey knew about ring lights," writes Spears in the book.

According to the "Gimme More" singer, Carey took it upon herself to coach the pop star on how to take the perfect photo. "I asked if we could take a photo together and tried to take one where we were standing, and she said, 'No! Come stand here, darling. This is my light. This is my side. I want you to stand here so I can get my good side, girl.'"

While Spears won an award that night, "the real prize" was getting a snap with the Songbird Supreme. "I did everything Mariah Carey told me to do," Spears adds in Chapter 10 of the book, which was released Tuesday, October 24. "Of course she was completely right about everything—the photo looked incredible."

In an August 2020 Instagram post, the "Fantasy" singer gave fans a peek at her current selfie lighting setup. Technology has advanced since that fateful day with the Princess of Pop, and Carey has taken full advantage, now boasting two bulbs to illuminate her lovely complexion.

If you look at any of her recent photos, it's obvious she knows where to find the light—and which side (it's the right) remains her favorite.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel marked 11 years of marriage this week (on October 19, to be exact), and the celebration comes amidst a lot of press about early 2000s era Timberlake—basically none of it positive. Timberlake’s ex-girlfriend, Britney Spears (who he dated from 1999 to 2002) released a memoir, The Woman in Me, this week, and, amongst the book’s revelations about Timberlake specifically, she shared that he encouraged Spears to have an abortion, that he broke up with her in a two-word text after three years together, and that he adopted the phrase “fo’ shizz,” all of which are, um, not great looks for him.

Page Six reports that Timberlake is (shocking no one) “not at all happy” about the book, and that he hasn’t reached out to Spears about the hullabaloo. Of reaching out to Spears, Timberlake “is not going to because there is nothing he can say to her,” a source told The Daily Mail. They said that Spears is “just telling it from her point of view,” but Timberlake is reportedly not “okay with it.” 

“Doing this book has given Britney life, and she really doesn’t care who is offended by anything in it because it is what happened,” they said. “She was there and lived through it. No one can say anything. She has got this all out of her and is moving on now.”

Of Timberlake and Biel, “Britney’s book coming out with all the revelations coming from it has not been the best for his anniversary celebrations,” a second source told The Daily Mail. “Having it in the zeitgeist hasn’t been a topic of constant conversation, but Justin and Jessica have definitely talked about it. And to have to think of all of that during a time when they should celebrate their love for each other hasn’t been the most satisfying of days lately. It has been a bit stressful.” 

Now, by the way, Spears can add “bestselling author” to her long list of accomplishments: she took to Instagram last night to write “It’s happening!!! My book is the highest selling celebrity memoir in history and it’s only day 1!!!”

As Marie Claire reported earlier this month, Britney Spears turned over narration duties of the audiobook for her memoir, The Woman in Me, to five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. “This book has been a labor of love and all the emotions that come with it,” Spears said. “Reliving everything has been exciting, heart-wrenching, and emotional, to say the least. For those reasons, I will only be reading a small part of my audiobook. I am so grateful to the amazing Michelle Williams for reading the rest of it.”

Williams, for her part, left no doubt about how she feels about Spears and her story: “I stand with Britney,” she said.

The book and its accompanying audiobook were released yesterday, and one clip in particular—where Williams impersonates Spears’ ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, while the two were dating in the early 2000s—has gone viral.

In the clip, Williams reads Spears’ written words: “His band *NSYNC was what people back then called ‘so pimp,’” she said. “They were white boys, but they loved hip-hop. To me, that’s what separated them from the Backstreet Boys—who seemed very consciously to position themselves as a white group. *NSYNC hung out with Black artists. One day, J and I were in New York, going to parts of town I had never been to before. Walking our way was a guy with a huge, blinged out medallion—he was flanked by two giant security guards. J got all excited and said so loud, ‘Oh yeah, fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz. Ginuwine, what’s up, my homie?’ After Ginuwine walked away, Felicia [Culotta] did an impression of J: ‘Oh yeah, fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz, Ginuwne.’ J wasn’t even embarrassed.”

Williams’ impression of Timberlake is so—how shall we say?—epic that it has led to the clip being viewed more than 9 million times on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Entertainment Tonight reports. “Additionally, the excerpt has been quoted and replied to by thousands of users who could not believe the impersonation that Williams brought to the table,” the outlet reports. One fan put it this way: “Oh, Michelle is winning that Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, and everything in between.”

Other fan reactions sum up the instantly classic moment well: “Five-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams saying ‘fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz, what’s up homie?’ is art,” one person tweeted, while another perhaps put it best: “I cannot believe we are living in a reality where Michelle Williams saying ‘fo’ shiz’ exists.”

The Woman in Me’s audiobook is out now.