Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake: Everytime video revisited following abortion news

Britney Spears fans have been speculating over whether her song Everytime contains references to the abortion she had in 2000.

The 41-year-old singer revealed in her new memoir that she had a termination after getting pregnant with Justin Timberlake during their relationship.

Britney and Justin were teenagers when they dated between 1999 and 2002.

Excerpts from Britney’s upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, reveal Justin “didn’t want to be a father”.

In an extract published in People, Britney also said: “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.”

She revealed she had the abortion in late 2000, when she was 18 or 19 years old, and that the procedure was “one of the most agonising things” she had ever experienced.

A year after the pair split, Britney released her album In the Zone, the third single from which was Everytime – a slow ballad which was a departure from some of her earlier, more upbeat releases.

Some fans have gone back to revisit the song’s lyrics and believe they could be referencing the abortion, seeing them as an apology to the unborn baby rather than her mourning the end of her relationship with Timberlake.

The song’s chorus: “And every time I see you in my dreams I see your face, you’re haunting me. I guess I need you, baby,” is now being interpreted in a new way by some.

The theory has prompted significant discussion among fans and gone viral on social media, where many are re-sharing clips of the music video.

Britney co-wrote the song with Annet Artani, while the music video, released in 2004, was directed by David LaChapelle.

Records from PRS, the body which manages music rights, say the writing split was 65% Britney and 35% Annet.

Writing on social media in 2019, LaChapelle said “the only direction Britney gave me for the video was that she wanted to die in the video”.

LaChapelle’s comment came in a reply to a fan’s Instagram video, which featured unreleased footage from another video he had worked on with Britney – her 2016 song Make Me.

He was commenting on how that video wasn’t released due to her not liking it and that he always respected her artistic direction when working with her.