Once upon a time, ‘Prince & Princess of Pop’ (Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears) were seen as a modern-day fairy tale couple!

This is for some serious drama lovers (in the context of pop music). That’s right, our darling Britney Spears has had her world turned upside down by none other than her former lover, Justin Timberlake. “Wait, didn’t they break up like several years ago?” might be on your mind. Well, apparently time doesn’t heal all wounds, especially when it comes to the sensitive ‘Princess of Pop’.

It has been reported that Spears’ road to recovery has been severely harmed by Timberlake’s recent actions. And we’re not referring to a minor bump in the road here. It’s more of a huge pothole that has resulted in some major setbacks for our Grammy Award-winning pop star.

Britney Spears in the music video ‘Toxic’

How, then, did the ‘Prince of Pop’ start all of this chaos? Us Weekly recently reported that Spears, 42, was “annoyed” after Timberlake, 43, appeared to humiliate her at his New York City concert earlier this year.

For the benefit of the uninformed, Spears apologized to Timberlake regarding the shocking accusations she made in her memoir, The Woman in Me.

The Recent Acts Of Justin Timberlake Have ‘Annoyed’ Britney Spears

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s already troubled relationship has further soured as a result of the latter’s heartbreaking remarks. Just when it seemed like things were finally starting to settle down between the ex-lovers, the Justified hitmaker managed to trigger his former partner with his insensitive comments about her heartfelt apology for spilling the beans on their past relationship.

An insider exclusively informed Us Weekly that Spears is still processing Timberlake’s latest jab regarding their past highs and lows. The Circus hitmaker “was annoyed after his onstage statement,” the source said, alluding to Timberlake’s mocking of Spears, at a concert in February.

At the time, Timberlake expressed his desire to “take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f–king nobody” to his New York City fans. He then sang Cry Me a River, a song he wrote following his breakup with Spears in the early 2000s.

The alleged jab came shortly after Spears issued an apology on social media on January 28 for “some of the things” she wrote in her book. She praised his song before saying that (see US Weekly)

“If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry. I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’”

Britney hitmaker was upset by Timberlake’s remark, the source told Us Weekly, adding that Spears’ “turning point for her mental issues started when [Timberlake] broke up with her so many years ago”.  According to the insider, Spears

“Thought they would be together forever and have children…So when he broke up with her, it shook her world.”

Justin Timberlake in a still from his Mirrors music video

Spears and Timberlake “seemed [to be] moving forward” in the past few months, but the insider claimed that the former became agitated “when he made fun of her apology”. In line with the report:

“Those close to her wish Justin was more of a stand-up guy and would have just moved on because what he did really hinders her recovery.”

The fallout from Timberlake’s thoughtless remarks was swift and severe. Spears’ emotions were in disarray. It is possible that she felt lost as she struggled to accept the fact that the person she had once loved and trusted had changed into someone completely different and able to cause such severe emotional trauma.

A Look Back at Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake’s Relationship

Britney Spears in Criminal

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake looked like a modern-day fairy tale at the beginning of the 2000s. The former couple first crossed paths as preteens on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club. Later, as they began their careers as pop stars, Spears as a solo artist, and Timberlake with the boy band *NSYNC, they reunited in the late 1990s.

In her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, the pop star recalled the incident, which happened during a sleepover with her castmates. She wrote (via PEOPLE):

“[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.”

Well, the public was always fascinated by the former couple’s nascent romance, which started in 1999 and continued until their breakup in the spring of 2002. After their split, the scrutiny surrounding them only grew, leading Timberlake to write songs about retaliation.

Eventually, Spears and Timberlake moved on to new romances; Spears went on to date Sam Asghari and Kevin Federline, while Timberlake is now married to Jessica Biel.

Either way, Spears needs to give it a try for her own benefit and to mend her heart.