Britney Spears has been criticised by fans after she blasted her ex Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera for teaming up for a tour after their breakup.
Justin and Christina joined forced for The Justified & Stripped Tour in 2003 – a year after the Sexy Back singer’s bitter split from Britney.
The talented trio originally met as children starring as Mouseketeers on The Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993-1994 where Britney and Christina shared a dressing room.
In her new memoir The Woman In Me, Britney expressed her distaste for the pair’s memorable Rolling Stone cover as well as how Christina said at the time she thought Justin and Britney would get back together.
‘They were together on the cover of Rolling Stone, him in a black tank top, looking at her with sexy eyes, her looking out at the camera, wearing a lace-up black shirt,’ Britney wrote.
Not happy: Britney Spears has been criticised by fans after she blasted her ex Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera for teaming up for a tour after their breakup
The 41-year-old Grammy winner wrote in her memoir The Woman In Me: ‘They were together on the cover of Rolling Stone, him in a black tank top, looking at her with sexy eyes, her looking out at the camera, wearing a lace-up black shirt’
‘In that story, she said she thought Justin and I should get back together, which was just confusing, given how negative she’d been elsewhere.’
Britney continued: ‘Even if they weren’t trying to be cruel, it felt like they were just pouring salt in the wound. Why was it so easy for everyone to forget that I was a human being — vulnerable enough that these headlines could leave a bruise?’
But fans quickly took to social media to criticise Britney’s point of view, saying Justin and Christina simply wanted to promote their tour and it had nothing to do with her.
Taking to X/Twitter, one user wrote: ‘At the end of the day they were all co-stars on Disney Channel, so Xtina and Justin were 100% entitled to tour together. Sorry Britney.’
Another user added: ‘Omg it wasn’t even that deep, it was a tour promo. Christina and Justin have been friends since they were kids too.’
A third fan wrote: ‘Britney really about to p**S me off. Christina was not thinking about you by doing a tour with Justin or trying to hurt you. They were childhood friends and have stayed that way, have always spoken highly of each other so a collab was bound to happen. Everything ain’t about you.’
A fourth added: ‘Huh? Xtina did a photoshoot to promote their tour,’ while a fifth similarly wrote: ‘They were promoting a tour!!!’
Another wrote: ‘Someone should tell Britney it was not that deep. The last thing that was in Xtina’s mind when she did the cover was Britney. The world doesn’t revolve around her. Xtina just wanted to promote her tour with JT.’
Reaction: Fans took to social media to criticise Britney’s point of view, saying Justin and Christina simply wanted to promote their tour and it had nothing to do with her
Duo: Justin and Christina joined forced for The Justified & Stripped Tour in 2003 – a year after the Sexy Back singer’s bitter split from Britney (pictured in 2003)
Deep: The talented trio met as children starring as Mouseketeers on The Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993-1994 where Britney and Christina shared a dressing room
Elsewhere in the memoir, Britney admitted she was jealous of Christina for having the freedom to party with some of their shared back-up dancers during her 13-year conservatorship, which restricted alcohol consumption.
‘[Christina] seemed pretty messed up,’ she wrote. ‘It would have been nice to have drinks with them, to get rebellious, sassy, fun.’
But it wasn’t all negative as Britney praised Christina and Gwen Stefani – who both appeared on The Voice in 2016 – for coming off ‘really professional on TV’ and wrote: ‘When the camera is on them, they thrive.’
Curiously, Britney completely omitted Christina from the chapter of her 288-page tell-all where she discussed her open-mouth kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards despite her also locking lips with the Queen of Pop.
At the time, Christina told Blender the semi-retired pop star ‘seemed nervous the whole time’ backstage like ‘a lost little girl, someone who needs guidance.’
History: Britney and Justin were in a much-publicised relationship from 1999 to 2002
Britney Spears shares advert for her book ‘The Woman In Me’
After Britney heard the singer’s comments she scoffed to the same outlet in 2004: ‘When someone has been rude to you so many times, it’s like, “You know what, Christina, I’m really not about the fake anymore.”‘
So perhaps that’s why Christina stammered as Jimmy Kimmel asked her last week if she wanted to be included in The Woman In Me: ‘I’d rather be it you than me.’
Christina added: ‘I’m hoping that, you know, everything is all good with her and everything’s beautiful. So, you know, I think the future should be celebrated.’
Simon & Schuster paid Britney $15M to pen her highly-anticipated memoir – hitting shelves this Tuesday – which has already topped Amazon’s Best Seller’s list.
