Britney Spears claims that *NSYNC “tried too hard” to fit in with Black artists

25 October, 2023

Britney Spears and NSYNC (Photo by Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage) via GETTY

Britney Spears has claimed that NSYNC “tried too hard” to fit in with Black artists when the boyband was at its peak.

The pop icon reflected on her relationship with NSYNC’s Justin Timberlake in her new memoir The Woman In Me, noting what differentiated the boyband from the Backstreet Boys and recalling a cringe-worthy moment in which he altered his speech while speaking to R&B star Ginuwine.

“*NSYNC was what people back then called ‘so pimp,’” Spears said her memoir. “They were white boys, but they loved hip hop. To me, that’s what separated them from the Backstreet Boys, who seemed very consciously to position themselves as a white group.”

She continued: “*NSYNC hung out with Black artists. Sometimes, I thought they tried too hard to fit in. One day, J and I were in New York, going to parts of town I’d never been to before. Walking our way was a guy with a huge, blinged out medallion. He was flanked by two giant security guards. J got all excited and said so loud, ‘Oh yeah, fo shiz, fo shiz! Ginuwine! What’s up, homie?”

The cringe-worthy moment has gained attention on social media due to actress Michelle Williams’ imitation of Timberlake attempting to play it cool. Williams is the narrator of Spears’ audiobook after the singer revealed that she will not be narrating the book due to the “heart-wrenching” time of “reliving” experiences.

Other revelations that have come from Spears’ memoir include that she could “barely speak for months” following her break-up with Timberlake in the early 2000s, her getting an abortion while dating the NSYNC member and the reason as to why she shaved her head in 2007.

In other news, Michael Barry, the casting director on The Notebook, released Spears’ 2002 audition tape for the role of Allie Hamilton earlier this week. He recently said that the pop icon should return to acting.

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