Britney Spears revealed some “brutally honest” stories from her life with the release of her tell-all memoir The Woman in Me, which came out October 24. Ahead of that date, excerpts had already started popping up, and it seems like the pop sensation’s tea is every bit as hot as promised. Below you’ll find some of the embattled singer’s biggest revelations about her family, career and relationships, including one bombshell involving ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.
The *NSYNC star was said to be concerned about what Britney Spears might have to say about him and their relationship, which ended badly in 2002. We may now know what was allegedly “eating at him,” as People reports that the young couple had an abortion back in 2000. Read about that and other segments from The Woman in Me below:
Britney Spears Had An Abortion When Justin Timberlake ‘Didn’t Want To Be A Father’
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were reportedly 19 years old when they became pregnant back in 2000, the “...Baby One More Time” singer writes in her memoir. The couple apparently came to the decision to get an abortion, yet Spears appears to feel regret over her actions. According to an excerpt from her book:
It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated. But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young. … If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.
Britney Spears goes on to say that to this day her abortion was one of the most agonizing things she’s ever experienced. Spears went on to have two sons with Kevin Federline. She and Sam Asghari, who are currently undergoing a divorce, reportedly suffered a miscarriage in May 2022.
Britney Began Drinking Alcohol With Mom Lynne Spears In Eighth Grade
Britney Spears has had a strained relationship with her family, making several allegations against them surrounding the 13-year conservatorship that took away her freedom. However, in an excerpt from The Woman in Me, she fondly recalls taking trips with her mom Lynne to drink alcohol, writing:
For fun, starting when I was in eighth grade, my mom and I would make the two-hour drive from Kentwood to Biloxi, Mississippi, and while we were there, we would drink daiquiris. We called our cocktails 'toddies.' I loved that I was able to drink with my mom every now and then. 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.
Lynne Spears and Britney’s younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears have both addressed Jamie Spears’ drinking problem in their own memoirs, and the pop star’s father has said he has no plans to read what Britney has to say about him in hers.
Britney Was Up For The Lead Role In The Notebook Opposite Ryan Gosling
Following her movie Crossroads in 2002, which she starred in with Zoe Saldaña and Taryn Manning, Britney Spears’ career path almost took a wildly different turn. The singer was allegedly close to reuniting with Mickey Mouse Club co-star Ryan Gosling in a little rom-com called The Notebook. Spears reveals in her memoir:
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. If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.
Nearly 20 years later it’s impossible to imagine anyone but Rachel McAdams portraying Allie in The Notebook, and it’s equally as hard to picture Britney Spears’ trajectory as a musician-turned-movie star. Alas, Spears writes, Crossroads was pretty much the beginning and end of her acting career.
Britney Was Terrified Of The Snake During Her Iconic MTV VMA Performance
Britney Spears dancing with a python while singing “I’m a Slave 4 U” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards has become one of the awards show’s most iconic performances in history, and the pop star opens up about the experience in her tell-all book (per People). She assures fans the moment was even more terrifying than it looked, and she tried to avoid looking at the snake, thinking that if she caught its eye, “it would kill me.” Spears continues:
In my head I was saying, Just perform, just use your legs and perform. But what nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing. I was thinking, Are you f---ing serious right now? The f---ing goddamn snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now. Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.
Both Britney Spears and the snake escaped unscathed, and it sounds like not a moment too soon! No wonder we didn’t see more live animals incorporated into her act in the years that followed.
Britney Spears And Justin Timberlake Shared Their First Kiss To A Janet Jackson Song
Years before Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake became forever associated with each other over the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show “wardrobe malfunction,” it turns out there was a connection between them and Britney Spears. The former Mouseketeer shares the story of her first kiss with the future *NSYNC member in her memoir, writing:
[Once] at a sleepover, we played Truth or Dare, and someone dared Justin to kiss me. A Janet Jackson song was playing in the background as he leaned in and kissed me.
I cannot imagine how much fun those sleepovers were, with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake being joined by their Mickey Mouse Club co-stars Christina Aguilera, JC Chasez, Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling and more. Then, to find out that the would-be couple shared their first kiss to a Janet Jackson song is kind of mind-blowing.
2003 Fling With Colin Farrell Described As A ‘Brawl’
Britney Spears and Colin Farrell made headlines in 2003, when they attended the premiere of his movie The Recruit together. While the actor assured the press that they were “just mates,” and Spears confirmed that there was “nothing serious” going on between them, the memoir The Woman in Me gives more details about the passionate fling, which Spears describes as a “two-week brawl.” The singer writes (per Time):
Brawl is the only word for it — we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight.
She doesn’t mention in the book how the so-called brawl ended, but she admits to feeling “too attached,” as she was still vulnerable over her breakup from Justin Timberlake.
You can read more about these big reveals in The Woman in Me by Britney Spears, which is out now.
