Justin Timberlake took to the stage and performed “Cry Me a River” in Las Vegas on December 13, and it wasn’t long before Britney Spears reacted. The pop sensation shared a cryptic video of a leopard on December 15 and at the end of her caption, seemingly clapped back at her ex’s performance. “Psss [sic] I never mentioned how I beat him in basketball and he would cry … no disrespect !!!” the 42-year-old penned in her post.
The “Radar” hitmaker’s comment was seemingly in reference to the comment that Justin made ahead of his performance earlier that week (watch the video here). Prior to belting out the 2002 track, Justin made a cheeky comment. “No disrespect,” he said into the mic in front of the crowd. He later went on to sing: “Ain’t we all just entertainers? I feel stupid and contagious. Yeah, we all just entertainers.” Brit’s ex mixed Jay-Z’s 2013 song “Holy Grail” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with slightly altered lyrics to drive home his point.
@chynnatok @Justin Timberlake saying “no disrespect” before singing Cry me a river last night 😂😭😭
Justin’s hit breakup track became controversial after Britney discussed the music video in her memoir, The Woman in Me. Brit noted that in it, “a woman who looks like me cheats on him and he wanders around sad in the rain.” The blonde beauty added that she didn’t like the way the video portrayed their split, as it made her look like a “harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy.”
After Justin’s performance went viral, Britney fans took to the comments on social media to slam him for singing the track. “This is giving the free entertainment on those cruises,” one person wrote, while another quipped, “Sir. It was all about the disrespect.” This is not the first time Justin sings the song in recent months, as he previously belted it our during Dave Chappelle‘s 50th birthday party on August 24. “They told me not to do this song no more,” he said at the time. “F*** that!”
Britney and her ex famously dated from 1999 until their split in 2002. In her memoir, released in October, Britney dropped several bombshells about their relationship. One of the most shocking claims was that she had an abortion during their romance. In the excerpt obtained by PEOPLE, Brit revealed that Justin wasn’t interested in having a baby with her. “Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy,” she claimed. “He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.” Britney’s ex is now married to actress Jessica Biel, 41, and they share two children.