During the Oct. 29 βSound Architects: A Producer Conversation with Timbalandβ event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the legendary producerΒ made a joke about the Justin Timberlake/Britney Spears drama.
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On Tuesday, he apologized for it.
A viral clip of the video shows Timbaland discussing Timberlakeβs hit, βCry Me a River,β which he co-wrote and co-produced. Many believe that the song was about Spears, who dated Timberlake for three years.
In Spearsβ new memoir, The Woman In Me, she discusses her reaction to the hit song, along with other details of their relationship, which ended more than 20 years ago. The pop star writes about Timberlake using a βblaccent,β asking her to get an abortion and dumping her in a text message.
βIf it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it,β Spears wrote of terminating her accidental pregnancy. βAnd yet Justin was so sure that he didnβt want to be a father.β
Timberland, like the rest of the world, was shocked about Spearsβs revelations. βShe going crazy, right?β Timbaland said. βI wanted to call and say, βJT, man, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl.ββ
Timbaland also implied that Spears wrote The Woman In Me to get viral exposure. βWe live in an age of social media and [β¦] everybody wanna go viral,β he said. βI get it βcause thatβs the way you make money, go viral β I gotta do something that gets peopleβs attention.β
While folks in the audience laughed at the remarks, Timbalandβs comments predictably stirred up outrage on social media, with many considering calls for a muzzleΒ misogynistic.
Timbaland went live on TikTok to apologize for the comments to his 1 million followers. He also shared the video of his apology on X.
βI apologize to the Britney fans and her,β he said as he read a comment asking about his feelings toward women. βYes, βyou know about respecting women?β Hell yeah.β
Timbaland has produced tracks on several of Timberlakeβs albums, including the entirety of his classic 2006 album FutureSex/LoveSounds.
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