Fans are finding new meaning in one of Britney Spears’ hit singles in light of a bombshell revelation made about her ex Justin Timberlake.
Spears’ music video for her 2004 single “Everytime” inspired more questions than answers at the time of its release. The visual, directed by David LaChapelle, portrayed different scenes of Spears navigating paparazzi chaos, a violent fight with her boyfriend at a hotel, an alleged suicide attempt, and a scene at a childbirth room in a hospital.
Earlier this week, People released an excerpt from Spears’ forthcoming memoir The Woman in Me where the pop singer revealed she became pregnant with Justin Timberlake during their high-profile relationship. In the book, set to be released on Oct. 24, Spears shares that Timberlake wasn’t happy about the pregnancy and told her they were “too young” for a child at that point in their lives. Ultimately, Spears opted for an abortion and stated that she wouldn’t have made that choice if it were solely up to her.
At the time, fans interpreted the lyrics of "Everytime" as an apology to Timberlake for allegedly cheating on him. Now, fans on social media are finding connections between the memoir and the “Everytime” music video, suggesting that it is a reference to the terminated pregnancy.
Another harrowing connection comes via an old interview, resurfaced by user BritneyCharts, where Spears mentioned wanting to name her future child “Brennan,” which Timberlake allegedly named one of his dogs after their breakup per a 2009 interview on Oprah's website.
The song’s co-writer, Annet Artani, debunked the rumors to TMZ, saying that “Everytime” was written primarily about their respective breakups and not related to an unborn child. Artani told the publication that she was straight out of a breakup with Spears’ musical director and that “Everytime” is mainly written from the perspective of her own relationship.
Artani also mentioned that during the songwriting process, Britney never mentioned a baby or an abortion, and these topics did not serve as inspiration for the track.
"Everytime" was allegedly penned approximately 9 months after Spears and Timberlake called it quits in 2002. The song was released after Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," which notably featured a Spears lookalike in its music video, alluding to their infamous breakup.
Now, 20 years after the song's initial release from Spears' 2003 In the Zone LP, "Everytime" is climbing the charts on iTunes. At the time of publication, the single appeared on the 96th spot in the overall song chart and its vide is 6th on the music video chart.
