Britney Spears Recalls Running Into Ex Justin Timberlake Before 2007 MTV VMAs
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00:00 "I ran into Justin backstage. It had been a while since I'd seen him. I was having a panic attack.
00:05 I went out there and did the best I could at that moment in time. I could see myself on video
00:10 throughout the auditorium while I performed. It was like looking at myself in a funhouse mirror."
00:15 Britney Spears recalls running into her ex,
00:18 Justin Timberlake, before her 2007 performance at the MTV VMAs.
00:29 And calls out Ryan Seacrest for an interview that same year where he questioned if she was
00:34 a fit mother. "It felt like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about,
00:39 whether or not I was a fit mother." The revelations are shared in Brit's memoir,
00:44 The Woman in Me, which hit shelves Tuesday, including an audiobook read by five-time
00:49 Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. "It's everything that you would think it would be,
00:54 and then a little bit more." Britney, who dated Justin from 1999 to 2002,
00:59 claims Justin broke up with her via text. And she recalls seeing him backstage at the 2007
01:06 MTV Video Music Awards, where she made her return to the stage for the first time following her
01:12 head-shaving incident. "It had been a while since I'd seen him. Everything was going great in his
01:17 world. He was at the top of his game in every way and he had a lot of swagger. I was having a panic
01:22 attack. I hadn't rehearsed enough. I hated the way I looked. I knew it was gonna be bad."
01:28 The performance was widely panned by critics, and Brit noted that she couldn't believe she
01:33 was forced to go on stage considering how everything in her life was going.
01:38 "There was a problem with my costume and with my hair extensions. I hadn't slept the night before.
01:42 I was dizzy. It was less than a year since I'd had my second baby in two years, but everyone
01:47 was acting like my not having six-pack abs was offensive." Britney shares two children with
01:52 her ex Kevin Federline, 17-year-old Jaden James and 18-year-old Sean Preston. "I love being a mom."
02:00 As for JT, that year he performed with Nelly Furtado and Timberland and took home the Moon
02:06 Person for Male Artist of the Year. "Justin glided down the runway into his performance.
02:12 He was flirting with girls in the audience. "I give myself a six and a half with a really
02:20 good personality that bumps it up to a seven." But Justin isn't the only celeb Britney calls
02:26 out in her book. "This is my perspective." The singer also recalls a particularly painful
02:32 interview with Ryan Seacrest around the release of her 2007 album Blackout.
02:37 "Ryan Seacrest asked me questions like, 'How do you respond to those who criticize you as a mom?'
02:42 And, 'Do you feel like you're doing everything you can for your kids?' And, 'How often will you
02:47 see them?' It felt like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about, whether or not I was
02:53 a fit mother." That interview took place shortly after Britney's performance at the VMAs and the
02:59 following month in October, she lost physical custody of her sons to Kevin. Following all that,
03:05 Britney was hospitalized at L.A.'s Cedar Sinai Medical Center and was placed on a 51/50
03:11 involuntary psychiatric hold at the Psychiatric Ward of UCLA Medical Center.
03:17 In the years that followed, Britney regained visitation rights with her sons and made a
03:22 gradual return to the spotlight. "I just want to be a happy person." But in February 2008,
03:28 she was placed under a conservatorship that was controlled by her dad, Jamie Spears,
03:33 and attorney Andrew Wallet. The conservatorship lasted for 13 years and gave them full control
03:40 over her assets and finances. "It seems at this point in this conservatorship,
03:46 Britney and her father will never see eye to eye." Over a decade later, following an emotional
03:52 testimony by Britney, a judge officially terminated the conservatorship in November 2021,
03:58 a victory for Britney, who finally regained control of her life and future. Part of that future?
04:05 Telling her own story, as we're seeing with this memoir. "What's next for Britney,
04:11 and this is the first time this could be said for about a decade, is up to one person, Britney."
04:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]