20 years after the release of “What Goes Around… Comes Around,” Justin Timberlake reveals the true inspiration of his hit song.
For decades, many speculated that the track was inspired by his breakup with fellow pop star Britney Spears. The song was also released around the same time Spears was divorcing her second husband, Kevin Federline, leading millions to believe that Timberlake was singing about his famous ex’s misfortunes after she allegedly cheated on him during their relationship.
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However, Timberlake is now revealing what the song was actually about.
During his appearance on Complex’s Re-RankYouTube series, the singer addressed the speculation.
“Maybe I should dispel a rumor at this point, which has gone around forever,” he explained. “Which is like, it’s not a personal story from mine.”
Timberlake then revealed, “It’s actually a personal story from a friend’s that I asked permission [to use]. He was just going through it, and he was telling me what happened, and I said, ‘Do you mind if I write about this?’ And I quote, my friend said, ‘Yeah, torch that b—. What goes around comes around.’ And I was like, ‘I have to go. Thank you.’”
He then said that he wrote the song in “damn near 20 minutes.”
Although “What Goes Around… Comes Around” is NOTabout Spears, Timberlake has said multiple times that his other hit track, “Cry Me a River,” is about his famous ex. The song’s music video even had a Spears look-alike, who was shown cheating on him.
Timberlake recalled writing “Cry Me a River” in his 2018 book Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me.
“I’ve been scored. I’ve been p—ed off. I wrote ‘Cry Me a River’ in two hours,” Timberlake revealed. “I didn’t plan on writing it.”
He then shared, “The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it. People heard me, and they understood it because we’ve all been there.”
Spears and Timberlake first met on The All-New Mickey Mouse Clubin the early ’90s. They dated from 1999 to 2002.
In her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me,Spears recalled the media storm that followed the release of the “Cry Me a River” music video.
“I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around in Hollywood,” she pointed out.
Although she admitted to being unfaithful to Timberlake during their relationship, Spears pointed out that her ex also cheated on her “several times.”
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