Timbaland Apologizes For Saying That Justin Timberlake ‘Should Have Put A Muzzle’ On Ex Britney Spears

Music producer Timbaland issued an apology after saying that Justin Timberlake “should have put a muzzle” on his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears.

In her new memoir, “The Woman in Me,” Spears wrote that Timberlake’s music video for “Cry Me a River” depicted the fallout of their relationship, which lasted for two years. The video featured Timberlake with an unfaithful woman who resembled Spears, suggesting that she cheated on him.

“He started being very standoffish with me,” Spears wrote about Timberlake. “I think that was because he’d decided to use me as ammunition for his record, and so it made it awkward for him to be around me staring at him with all that affection and devotion.”

Timbaland, who helped produce “Cry Me a River,” was asked about the song’s recent surge in popularity and Spears’ memoir during an interview last month.

“She’s going crazy,” Timbaland said about Spears. “I wanted to call JT, ‘Man, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl.”

“But you know what?” he continued. “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.”

After backlash from fans about the comment, Timbaland took to TikTok to apologize.

“I’m sorry to all the Britney fans, even to her,” he said. “I’m sorry because muzzle was — no, you have a voice. You speak what you want to speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak? And I was wrong for saying that. I was looking at it from a different lens and what I am is a reconciled person. I’m not a person who takes sides… I apologize to the Britney fans and her.”

More than one million copies of The Woman in Me were sold within the first seven days of its release.

In the book, Spears also reveals why she shaved her head in an infamous 2007 incident.