Timbaland Apologizes For Saying Justin Timberlake Should Put A Muzzle On Britney Spears

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | November 8, 2023 |

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | November 8, 2023 |

Last week, Timbaland was speaking at a music producers panel when an audience member brought up Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me A River. The song, which Timbaland co-wrote and produced, is back in the headlines because of Britney Spears’ memoir. In The Woman In Me, Britney writes that Justin essentially threw her under the bus to launch his solo career, and the subsequent slut-shaming and negative media attention sent her into a deep depression.

Before the audience member could finish his Britney-related question, Timbaland cut in and said, “Damn, man, she’s going crazy, right?” After the audience laughed, he added, “I wanna call and say, ‘JT, man, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl!’” More laughs (sigh). Then, Timbaland accused Britney of sharing her traumatic life story to “go viral”:

“But you know what? We live in an age of social media and everybody wanna go viral. I get it, because that’s the way you make money. Go viral.”

Lovely. Here’s the clip:

Even though the audience at the producers panel enjoyed Timbaland’s “jokes”, denizens of the Internet did not. He faced a ton of backlash on social media. So, last night, 51-year-old Timbaland apologized on TikTok Live:

“I’m keeping it 1,000 with y’all. But I’m sorry to all the Britney fans… even to her. If she never saw the, uh- I’m sorry, cuz ‘muzzle’ was… no. You have a voice. You speak what you wanna speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak? And I was wrong, you know, for saying that.”

Then, Timbaland explained that he identifies as a peacekeeper:

“But I hope you see it from, I was looking at it from a different lens. And what I am is a ‘reconcile person’. I’m not a person who takes sides, I try to combine. Let’s make a compromise. I see your point, do you see this point? Can we all get to an agreement to say, ‘This is that and that is this?’ That is how I am… so!

So Timbaland doesn’t take sides… except, um, he clearly took Justin’s side. Okie dokie! After he repeated his apology to “Britney’s fans, um… [long pause] and her”, Timbaland responded to a comment from a fan about “respecting women”: “Yes, you know, about respecting women. HELL YEAH!” Ooo, feminist in the house! Here’s the clip:

Timbaland apology to Britney Spears and fans pic.twitter.com/SvFkysKirR

— Fan Account 📖🌹 (@britneycharts) November 8, 2023

According to this tweet, Timbaland also shared that Missy Elliot texted him to tell him “what he said about Britney Spears wasn’t right and she did not support that behavior.” Missy and Timbaland are longtime collaborators and friends, but she’s also worked with Britney. See: Missy and Brit’s iconic VMAs opener with Madonna and Christina Aguilera: