Britney Spears is finally taking control of her narrative in her new memoir, The Woman In Me. After a more than 30-year music career that’s been filled with many ups and downs, Spears is opening up like never before by sharing some major bombshells in her book. Ahead of the memoir’s Oct. 24 release, People published excerpts from the book that detail various moments throughout Spear’s life, including some big revelations the public didn’t know until now.
The memoir marks the first time the singer is speaking openly about her life and career since her 14-year conservatorship was terminated in November 2021. Though Spears has gotten personal with fans on social media, this is the first time those fans are getting a detailed breakdown of her life from the singer herself. According to a press release from Gallery Books, the singer’s memoir promises to reveal “her incredible journey [and] strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history,” while “[illuminating] the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms.”
Here are some of the major revelations Spears talked about in The Woman In Me.
Spears had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake.
One of the biggest bombshells Spears reveals in her memoir is that back in the early 2000s, she got pregnant with Justin Timberlake’s baby, but had an abortion. “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears wrote in the book, per People. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.” She added, “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.” Her Campus reached out to Timberlake’s team for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
After learning the details of Spears’ abortion, some fans think her 2003 song “Everytime” is about the pregnancy she terminated rather than her breakup from Timberlake.
Spears Admitted to making out with dancer wade robson while dating justin timberlake.
While it was rumored that Spears had cheated on Timberlake, Spears never spoke publicly about this. However, she finally came clean about her past infidelity in her memoir.
In The Woman in Me, Spears revealed that she once made out with choregrapher Wade Robson, who worked with Timberlake’s band *NSYNC during their 2000 No Strings Attached Tour. “We were out one night and we went to a Spanish bar,” the pop star wrote in an excerpt published by The Sun on Oct. 18. “We danced and danced. I made out with him that night.”
But aside from this one time, Spears insists she was faithful to Timberlake throughout the remainder of their relationship.
Spears thought the idea for the matching denim look with timberlake was a “joke.”
One of Spears’ most memorable fashion moments of her career was the matching denim-on-denim outfits she and Justin Timberlake wore to the 2001 American Music Awards.
In her book, Spears revealed that she initially thought the idea for the outfits “a joke.” She also didn’t think Timberlake was going to match with her for the event.
“I still can’t believe that Justin was going to wear denim and I said, ‘We should match! Let’s do denim-on-denim!’,” she wrote, according to The Independent. “At first, honestly, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t think my stylist was actually going to do it, and I never thought Justin was going to do it with me. But they both went all in. The stylist brought Justin’s all-denim outfit, including a denim hat to match his denim jacket and denim pants. When he put it on, I thought, Whoa! I guess we’re really doing this!”
Spears shaved her head in 2007 because she was “acting out.”
The year 2007 was a difficult one for Spears. Not only was she going through a divorce at the time, but she was also the target of a lot of celebrity gossip. With the paparazzi following her constantly and her name being dragged through the mud by tabloids, the singer decided to “act out” by shaving her head.
“I’d been eyeballed so much growing up. I’d been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body, since I was a teenager,” she wrote in The Woman in Me. “Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back.”
Spears was terrified to perform “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a snake at the 2001 VMAs.
One of the most iconic moments in Spears’ career was when she performed “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a python during the 2001 Video Music Awards. Though the performance was legendary and is still being talked about over 20 years later, Spears was actually “scared” for her life while onstage.
“The plan was for me to sing ‘I’m a Slave 4 U,’ and we decided I would use a snake as a prop. It’s become an iconic moment in VMAs history, but it was even more terrifying than it appeared,” she explained in the book. “In my head I was saying, Just perform, just use your legs and perform. But what nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing.”
She added, “I was thinking, Are you f*cking serious right now? The f*cking goddamn snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now. Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.”
It wasn’t easy for Spears to break out of character while filming ‘Crossroads.’
While recording her third studio album Britney in 2001, Spears starred in the coming-of-age film Crossroads with Zoe Saldaña and Taryn Manning.
In her book, Spears revealed that the experience took a major toll on her mental wellbeing.
“My problem wasn’t with anyone involved in the production but with what acting did to my mind. I think I started method acting — only I didn’t know how to break out of my character,” she shared. “I really became this other person. Some people do method acting, but they’re usually aware of the fact that they’re doing it. But I didn’t have any separation at all.”
Spears continued, “I ended up walking differently, carrying myself differently, talking differently. I was someone else for months while I filmed Crossroads. Still to this day, I bet the girls I shot that movie with think, She’s a little…quirky. If they thought that, they were right.”