The past half-decade or so has not been great for Justin Timberlake’s career. It seems that everything he does underperforms, and he has been looking for a way back to the top–in music or movies–for years. Just when it looked like the singer and actor might have found a way to return to his superstar status and rehab his image, some shocking revelations may have stopped that comeback short.
Several excerpts from Britney Spears’ forthcoming memoir The Woman In Me have been released this week to generate buzz for the book, which is set to drop in a few days. Spears dominated the entertainment media yet again this week when she revealed that she was pregnant by the NSYNC star when they were dating. When she told him about her pregnancy, Timberlake reportedly convinced Spears that they were too young at the time to start a family. They were both teenagers, and according to the excerpt, Timberlake pressured her into having an abortion. Spears says she is not happy with the decision.
Now, another revelation has dropped, and again, it doesn’t look good for Timberlake. Spears alleges in her book that during their relationship, her boyfriend cheated on her with another star. Spears doesn’t name the other woman, claiming that she now has a family of her own, and she doesn’t want to embarrass her.
Spears’ The Woman In Me memoir is not shaping up to be good news for Timberlake. The timing around the book release is bad for him, as he was in the middle of a potential comeback of sorts.
Timberlake has been leaning into nostalgia lately to try to get the public back on his side after several lackluster projects and calls for him to apologize to people like Spears and Janet Jackson for past indiscretions. He reunited with NSYNC for a new single titled “Better Place” from the upcoming Trolls movie, which hit the Billboard charts just last week.
Timberlake’s last major hit came from the first film, earning a Oscar nomination and chart-topping success.
The star also reunited with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado on the single “Keep Going Up,” which arrived a few weeks ago. The three scored a Hot 100 No. 1 many years ago during a particularly prolific period for all of them with “Give It to Me.” Now, they were looking for another smash with a second collaboration, but even that tune only performed middlingly on the charts.
These two tracks, which reminded the world of his past successes and why the masses fell in love with him in the first place, were surely part of a coordinated effort to make people move on from his controversies and help him regain his A-list status.
Now, with Spears’ book doling out one blow after another, it seems that this comeback of Timberlake’s is no longer going well. He may have to change course, or perhaps find a way to power through these allegations and claims. How he does so–or if he does so at all–is yet to be seen, but he may lose the momentum he’d started to gain. And there are sure to be those who will no longer be interested in him and his work after this week.
Read the full article here