Britney Spears claimed that she'd had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
Britney Spears is showing her support for ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.
Timberlake, who dated Spears from 1999 to 2002, has been vilified by some Spears fans after she made some serious claims about him in her memoir, but now, the "… Baby One More Time" singer is coming to his defense.
"I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book," Spears wrote on Instagram last night. "If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry…"
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake broke up in 2002. (Kevin Winter)
She didn't name Timberlake in her apology, but her statement was posted along with a video of him performing on Jimmy Fallon's "The Tonight Show" last week.
She finished her statement by saying, "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???"
Last week, Timberlake announced that he's releasing a new album in March called "Everything I Thought It Was." His first single, "Selfish," is out now.
Justin Timberlake is releasing a new album in March. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
In 2011, Spears released a song with the same title on her "Femme Fatale" album. In a show of support, fans began streaming her song in earnest, enough that for a period of time after Timberlake released his single, her 13-year-old track was higher on the iTunes music chart.
It's unclear if Spears' Instagram post was a reaction to the sudden resurgence in popularity for her old song, but it isn't the first time she's spoken out in support of her ex when her fans have attacked him.
Just ahead of the release of her book, "The Woman in Me," excerpts were released that described an abortion she claimed to have had during her relationship with Timberlake.
Britney Spears claimed that Justin Timberlake told her he wasn't ready to be a father when she became pregnant while they were dating. (Scott Gries/NBAE/ImageDirect)
Spears says that after he learned she was pregnant, he convinced her to have the abortion.
"It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy," Spears wrote. "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."
BRITNEY SPEARS' TOP CONFESSIONS: CHEATING, PREGNANCY, ‘SOUL-CRUSHING’ CHILDHOOD
She continued, "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."
She wrote that in the end, she decided to go along with Timberlake's wishes.
Britney Spears has defended Justin Timberlake multiple times. (Phillip Faraone/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
"I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby. I don’t know if that was the right decision. 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."
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The singer confessed, "To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life."
Several of her supporters began bashing Timberlake, so much that she took to Instagram shortly after the abortion claims were made public to make it clear that she's no longer upset by many of the things she described in her book.
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Britney Spears said that she is a fan of Timberlake's new music. (VALERIE MACON/AFP)
Spears does not mention anyone by name but posted, "My book's purpose was not to offend anyone by any means !!! That was me then ... that is in the past !!! I don't like the headlines I am reading ... that's exactly why I quit the business 4 years ago !!! Most of the book is from 20 years ago ... I have moved on and it's a beautiful clean slate from here !!!"
She continued in part, "This is actually a book I didn't know needed to be written ... although some might be offended, it has given me closure on all things for a better future !!! Hopefully I can enlighten people who feel particularly alone in most cases or hurt or misunderstood !!! Again, my motive for this book was not to harp on my past experiences which is what the press is doing and it's dumb and silly !!! I have moved on since then !!!"
Emily Trainham is an entertainment editor for Fox News Digital.
