Fans think that Britney Spears’ song “Everytime” and its music video might be about an abortion she got while dating fellow pop star Justin Timberlake.
In a new memoir called “The Woman in Me,” Spears writes that she had the abortion during their 1999-2002 relationship because Timberlake wasn’t ready to be a father, according to excerpts published Tuesday.
“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy,” she writes. “I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated.”
She adds: “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”
Following the news, fans have begun to reevaluate Spears’ music — and specifically the 2003 track “Everytime,” which Spears co-wrote with a backup singer named Annet Artani.
At the time, many believed it was just a response to Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River,” a breakup ballad released after their split. But with the lyrics “Every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face / It’s haunting me / I guess I need you, baby,” a number of people now think that “Everytime” references Spears’ abortion.
In a music video for the song, Spears ends up in a hospital and, in one scene, walks by a woman who has given birth. The video ends with a shot of the woman’s baby.
Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to offer theories about the music video and what it could mean.
One user wrote, “everytime by britney spears has a whole different meaning now.”
“The baby in the Everytime music video was the baby Britney felt forced to abort,” another suggested, adding a pleading-face emoji.
“Everytime by Britney Spears has such a new meaning now. It being a lullaby saying how she needs her baby,” someone else speculated.
In a 2003 ABC special, Spears said that when she wrote “Everytime,” she was “going through a lot emotionally.”
“The Woman in Me” is set to come out next week.