Justin Timberlake makes first public comment on Britney Spears since her explosive memoir dropped

During a concert in Las Vegas, Justin Timberlake appeared to address Britney Spears ahead of performing his song 'Cry Me a River'.

Spears' memoir, The Woman Inside Me, was particularly damning to her former partner Timberlake.

Following this, the singer has faced significant backlash on social media as fans were stunned by the accusations levied against him by Spears.

In her memoir, Spears, who dated Timberlake from 1999 to 2002, recalled how she terminated her pregnancy while they were dating. She also suggested that he had been unfaithful to her and broke up with her via text message.

Following the release of the memoir, Timberlake appeared to keep relatively quiet and even turned the comments off on his Instagram page.

But during a performance in Fontainebleau in Las Vegas this week, the 'Mirrors' hit-maker seemingly hoped to move beyond this and indicated that he was focused on putting any ill feelings aside.

Before performing his hit song 'Cry Me a River', he told the audience ‘no disrespect’ seemingly putting the past behind him.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

When the song was released in 2002, less than a year after the couple had broken up, it caused a stir in the music world as it speculated that Spears had cheated on him.

Lyrics in the song included: "You don't have to say, what you did, I already know, I found out from him.”

Spears has since admitted that she did cheat on Timberlake with choreographer Wade Robson during their relationship.

In her memoir, she alluded to this but also suggested she believes Timberlake had been unfaithful as well.

“We danced and danced. I made out with him that night,” Spears said of her encounter with Robson.

Lester Cohen Archive/WireImage

She went on to say: “There were a couple of times during our relationship when I knew Justin had cheated on me.”

Despite the backlash Timberlake has faced, his former NSYNC bandmate Lance Bass has asked fans to forgive him in the same way Spears has.

“Look, I mean everyone has their own opinion,” Bass said.

“I just feel like the world is so full of hate right now that we need to practice a little forgiveness.

“Britney did. So, let’s take a note from her.”

When asked whether Bass had spoken to Timberlake about the memoir, he laughed and said he wouldn’t discuss the conversations the pair have had.

Topics: Britney Spears, Celebrity, Justin Timberlake, Sex and Relationships

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.