Britney Spears posted a tribute to fave Janet Jackson on Instagram, only to delete it, amid her rekindled feud with ex Justin Timberlake.
Spears shared the cover of Jackson’s 1993 pop diva opus janet., writing, “Thank you to this beautiful lady for keeping my dreams and heart alive.”
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The “Overprotected (DarkChild Remix)” singer continued, “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.”
Why did Spears decide to delete such a sweet tribute to the woman who gave us seven top five hits from one album? Well, things haven’t been swell on the early-00s pop ‘It’ couple front, with Spears and former boyfriend/boybander Justin Timberlake.
Spears’ memoir revealed some unsavory aspects of her relationship with Timberlake, particularly around the song “Cry Me a River” and how it put the blame on the end of their relationship solely on Spears. Timberlake received flack for performing the song, leading Spears to write an apology on Instagram. Timberlake then intro’d “Cry Me a River” with an “apology” of his own to “absolutely f—ing nobody” only for Spears to respond with a sorry-not-sorry of her own.
Timberlake and Jackson’s history is also pretty checkered, dating back to the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show, which ended up with Timberlake exposing Jackson’s breast to millions of people. Timberlake’s career thrived while Jackson bore the brunt of the backlash. In 2021, Timberlake issued a blanket apology to both Jackson and Spears.
“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” he wrote at the time. “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.”
For her part, Jackson claimed in her 2022 documentary that she and Timberlake are over it and remain “very good friends.”
“It was an accident that should not have happened,” Jackson said, referring to the Halftime show controversy. “But everyone is looking for someone to blame and that’s gotta stop. Justin and I are very good friends and we will always be good friends.”
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