Britney Spears fans have slammed Justin Timberlake for his past treatment of the pop icon following the release of The New York Times documentary "Framing Britney." The film takes a closer look at Spears' controversial conservatorship battle as well the rise of the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement, but in one section the documentary also explores the destruction of the "Toxic" singer's reputation following her split with Timberlake.
The pair dated from 1998 to 2002. After their breakup, reports emerged that Spears had cheated on the former NSYNC band member. Adding fuel to the fire, Timberlake then released a video for his single "Cry Me a River" in which he catches a woman who closely resembles Spears cheating on him. The backlash was severe.
"The way that people treated her, to be very high school about it, was like she was the school slut and he was the quarterback," Times critic at large Wesley Morris says in the film, per Glamour.
It was not long before social media was buzzing as fans took to Twitter to criticize Timberlake.
'Twenty-five minutes into the nyt britney doc and ready to slowly pull out each of justin timberlake's teeth with a wrench," one Twitter user wrote.
"Watching Framing Britney Spears is a pretty easy way to feel angry about misogyny, Justin Timberlake, and how we rake every girl and young woman in the spotlight over the coals!" another tweeted.
"Justin Timberlake needs to get his apology ready..." a fan wrote to Twitter while another noted that the documentary reaffirmed her dislike for him.
Fans also sympathized with Spears for how she was treated throughout her career.
"Britney Spears had to go through so much, be asked so many misogynistic questions, followed and hounded by paparazzi at almost every second of the day and we wonder why Britney had a few issues. She's human. The way the world treated Britney Spears was disgusting. Period," a Twitter user wrote.
"I wish i personally knew better then," another added. "It's nothing short of terrifying to see so clearly laid out what we as a culture did to this woman who absolutely didn't deserve any of it."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.