Timbaland later told Britney Spears that he was sorry for suggesting that her ex-boyfriend Justine Timberlake should have put 'a muzzle' on her for speaking out about their relationship in her new memoir. Photos: AP, TNS
Britney Spears’ fans want Timbaland to apologise after the record producer said collaborator Justin Timberlake should have “put a muzzle on that girl", as the pop star’s memoir makes some explosive claims about the NSYNC crooner.
Though the 51-year-old Grammy winner, real name Tim Mosley, made the controversial remark while speaking with 9th Wonder at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts last week, the comment is just now going viral, TMZ reports.
Timbaland – who worked with Timberlake, 42, on his Future Sex/Love Sounds album and, more recently, the track, Keep Going Up! – reportedly also accused the Gimme More pop star, 41, of exploiting certain elements of her life to help The Woman In Me fly off the shelves and make the rounds on social media, according to the outlet.
Spears’ book details the tumultuous elements of her relationship with Timberlake, which lasted from 1999 to 2002.
She said that, in addition to cheating on her multiple times, Timberlake impregnated Spears. He allegedly said the two weren’t ready to be parents and, as a result, Spears said she underwent an abortion that ultimately haunted her.
She also spoke in the book about how Timberlake weaponised the public’s perception of her.
While she admitted to having once stepped out on the SexyBack singer with choreographer Wade Robson, Spears said Timberlake let the world at large believe she was a “harlot,” particularly after the Cry Me A River music video.
Fans of Spears now want Timbaland to apologise for the “muzzle” comment, especially since they believe his beef with her may go back farther than the memoir.
Spears’ album, Blackout, dropped in 2007 and involved her working with producer and songwriter Danja, whom Timbaland previously mentored.
Earlier that year, Timbaland reportedly claimed he’d suggested Spears and Timberlake collaborate, but ultimately, she had gotten “so big-headed and (was) like, ‘Screw you, screw you, I don’t need nobody.'”
“She should humbly, humble herself,” he told MTV News at the time. “And make a phone call and say I’m sorry. ... She knows what she’s sorry about, too.”
According to Los Angeles Times, the Grammy-winning producer did come out to tell Spears that he was sorry for suggesting that her ex-boyfriend Timberlake should have put "a muzzle" on her for speaking out about their relationship in her new memoir.
"I'm sorry to all the Britney fans, even to her," Timbaland said on a TikTok live on Tuesday (Nov 7). "I'm sorry, 'cause 'muzzle' was – no, you have a voice, you speak what you want to speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak? And I was wrong for saying that."
He added that he knows "about respecting woman" and said he is a father but admitted, "I have my own mental health issues. ... I got my own triggers."
He later said that the comment was meant to be a joke but acknowledged, "I could look outside myself and say that wasn't a joke, that wasn't a nice thing to say."
Also in the TikTok, Timbaland said he disagreed with Spears' decision to "spread" her issues "out to the world" but pointed out, "That might be her freedom of speech, her way to heal," and called her "the queen."
"Some of Britney's fans are my fans," he said, implying that he didn't want to lose their support. – Agencies
