I still remember the day I saw Justin Timberlake’s music video for ‘Cry Me A River’. I was only seven years old, and yet I was enthralled with the chaotic celebrity gossip that had surrounded the single's release. It had been eight months since Justin and Britney Spears announced their split (after three years together) and the video essentially confirmed rumours that the cause of said breakup had been Britney’s infidelity with choreographer Wade Robson – an allegation leaked to tabloids at the time.
The scandal did wonders for Justin’s music career, Cry Me A River was only the second single from his debut solo album Justified and the video featured a Britney lookalike cheating on Justin. He went from the N-Sync lead that had potentially broken a Pop Princess’s heart, to the ultimate nice guy that had been used and abused by a heartless seductress – and everyone ate it up. Even when Britney defended herself against the allegations during her infamous 2003 interview with Diane Sawyer, the damage was done.
What we later learned thanks to Netflix’s Framing Britney Spears, is that the narrative was one of many capitalised on by those seeking to control her life. Britney’s reputation, and the support of her fans back then, being destroyed by rumours just like this was all part of a larger spiral that allowed for accusations around mental illness to be used against her and ultimately, have her father Jamie Spears take control of her finances and professional decisions as per her 13-year-long conservatorship.
Why are we rehashing this from the nightmare celebrity gossip archives? Because after it was reported that Britney Spear’s husband, Sam Asghari, has filed for divorce from the singer 14 months after their marriage – some are worried the same narrative is resurfacing.
It comes after TMZ broke the news of the split, claiming that the couple separated ‘after a nuclear argument that involves allegations of cheating’. Neither party has publicly commented on the allegation. But as pop culture commentator Tefi Pessoa pointed out, a lot of accusations already circulating about the couple are reminiscent of the 2002 rumours that began Britney’s reputational decline.
‘It’s peculiar to me that this information makes it sound like Sam found out that he was being portrayed and stood up for himself and chose himself and he’s walking away,’ Tefi says. ‘Within this piece, they keep mentioning Britney’s blow-up screaming fights with Sam and her erratic behaviour, I’m so sick of this constant marketing of Britney Spears’ instability – if anything she’s a Facebook mum.’
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‘We all know that Sam wants to be an actor, and if Sam was truly using Britney Spears for fame, I haven’t seen him in anything so perhaps being Britney Spears’ husband has not opened any doors for him like maybe he expected,’ Tefi continued. ‘I really don’t want to believe he’s that much of an asshole to feed TMZ lies, hoping to get the attention and opportunities - like Justin Timberlake did when he framed himself as the victim of Britney Spears’ infidelity - and win over these people’s hearts because he’s there for this woman who is “so sick and unwell” and she “still stepped out on him”’.
Grazia has approached Sam’s teams for comment but is yet to receive a reply.
Now, whatever you believe about Sam and Britney’s divorce – and it certainly may well be that neither Britney cheated, nor Sam is feeding TMZ anything – remembering how Britney’s breakup with Justin Timberlake impacted her reputation is a worthy lesson. Regardless of what happened, we cannot let the same misogyny spin out of this situation or have it shape the way people feel about Britney’s rights to freedom. Cheating or no cheating, leaking or no leaking, one would hope we’ve come a long way from the horrendous celebrity gossip days of 2002 – 20 years on, let’s not let history repeat itself.