Timbaland is apologizing after his controversial comments about Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. The 51-year-old music producer, whose real name is Tim Mosley, was asked about Spears’ headline-making memoir, The Woman in Me, in which she made several claims about her ex, Timberlake, and their relationship.
Timbaland — who has worked with Timberlake on several tracks, including the hit song “Cry Me a River,” which was seemingly about his split from Spears and her alleged infidelity — was asked about the song during a Q&A at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 29.Â
“She’s going crazy, right?” Timbaland said of Spears before the question could be asked. “I wanna call JT because he gotta put a muzzle on that girl.”
A clip of the response went viral. Â
On Tuesday, Timbaland took to TikTok Live to issue an apology for his comments.Â
“I’m sorry to all the Britney fans, even to her,” he said in a clip that was reposted online. “I’m sorry ’cause ‘muzzle’ was… no. You have a voice. You speak what you wanna speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak? And I was wrong for saying that.”
Calling himself a “reconcile person,” Timbaland said he was viewing the situation through a “different lens,” saying he always prefers to come to a solution.Â
The music producer concluded the discussion, saying, “I apologize to Britney fans and to her. And yes, you know, about respecting women, hell yeah.”Â
In The Woman in Me, Spears made several bombshell allegations about Timberlake, who she dated from 1999 to 2002, one of which was that she got an abortion at his urging while they were together. She also claimed that the pop star and NSYNC member cheated on her and broke up with her via text message.Â
In the book, she admitted to kissing a dancer when they were dating. Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” music video has long thought to have been the singer’s response to Spears’ own apparent infidelity during their relationship.Â
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