Is Justin Timberlake still crying a river over Britney Spears? The singer – who just released the first single, “Sexy Back,” off his second solo CD, FutureSex/LoveSounds – has been tight-lipped about his first love. Until now.
The early years: “I was in love with her from the start,” Timberlake, 25, says in the August issue of GQ. The two met on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club when he was 11 and she was 10. As his mom, Lynn Harless, recalls, “Britney grew up on my living room floor.”
The breakup: “When we initially parted ways [in 2002], I felt like she had a couple of opportunities to just sort of stick up for me, and she didn’t,” says Timberlake about Spears, 24, publicly blaming him for the split. His answer? “I fought back…I came up with a song.” That would be “Cry Me a River,” which called out Spears’ rumored infidelity with his pal Wade Robson (she denied it).
The last laugh? “I just hate what she’s going through now,” Harless says of her son’s seemingly troubled ex. (Timberlake, who says he and Spears don’t speak, denies advising her to dump hubby Kevin Federline, 28.)
All grown-up: Though he says he wishes Spears well, Timberlake calls his first love “so high school,” and refers to his “adult” relationship with Cameron Diaz, 33 (they’ve been together since 2003). “Justin moved on…a long time ago,” says Harless.