Lance Bass has seen many fans turn on his former ‘NSync bandmate Justin Timberlake in support of Britney Spears — and he’s over it.
“I mean, everyone has their own opinion. I just feel like the world is so full of hate right now that we need to practice a little forgiveness,” Bass, 44, told TMZ on Saturday, October 28. “Britney did, so let’s take a note from her.”
Spears, 41, released her debut memoir, The Woman in Me, on Tuesday, October 24. The book chronicled her decades in the spotlight, tumultuous family relationships and even her past with Timberlake, 42. (Spears and Timberlake dated between 1999 and 2002, ultimately breaking up over infidelity on both sides.)
At one point during their relationship, Spears and Timberlake — who met on the set of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in the early ‘90s — found out that she was pregnant. According to her book, Timberlake allegedly encouraged her to get an abortion.
“I agreed not to have the baby,” she wrote in The Woman in Me. “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”
After the twosome dealt with the D&C, Timberlake allegedly cheated on her “a couple of times.” Timberlake, for his part, had previously implied that Spears was the person who had been unfaithful during their romance. In her book, Spears did admit to making out with Wade Robson, who had previously worked with Timberlake, while out in a Spanish nightclub.
In writing about the pair’s breakup, Spears claimed that Timberlake had dumped her over text.
Timberlake has not publicly addressed any of Spears’ The Woman in Me claims, though a source told Us Weekly that he was “trying to distance himself” from the tome.
“It’s not something he’s focusing too much on in terms of anything she might discuss when it comes to their former relationship,” the insider exclusively told Us earlier this month, ahead of the book’s release date. “Justin and Britney dated so long ago, and he has a whole different life now. He’s focused on his family, his career, and moving forward, and he would like to leave anything that happened in the past behind them.”
Timberlake — who shares two sons with wife Jessica Biel — has since disabled Instagram comments on his profile.
Spears has maintained that she did not mean to “offend” anyone by the subjects of her book.
“My book’s purpose was not to offend anyone by any means,” she wrote via Instagram on October 20. “That was me then … that is in the past!!! It’s a beautiful clean slate from here!!! I am here to establish it that way for the rest of my entire life!!! Either way, that is the last of it and s–t happens. This is actually a book I didn’t know needed to be written, although some might be offended, it has given me closure on all things for a better future.”
Bass, for his part, is “excited” to read The Woman in Me, telling TMZ that he planned to start the book later on Saturday. “Everyone deserves to tell their story [and] she did,” Bass concluded. “[I] hope the fans can find some forgiveness.”
