Justin Timberlake debunks rumor 2006 track What Goes Around... Comes Around was written about ex Britney Spears

Justin Timberlake has shut down rumors his song What Goes Around… Comes Around was about ex-girlfriend Britney Spears.In an interview with Complex's Re-Rank, the 45-year-old singer officially clarified the track, which came out a few years after their high-profile split in 2002, was actually based on a personal heartbreak story told to him by a close friend.'Maybe I should dispel a rumor at this point, which has gone around forever,' Timberlake told host Jordan Rose.'It's not a personal story from mine. It's actually a personal story from a friend's that I asked permission to.'Timberlake, whose family logistics were revealed by his wife Jessica Biel, said, 'He was just going through it and he was telling me what happened and I said, "Do you mind if I write about this?" And I quote, my friend said, "Yeah, torch that b***h, what goes around, comes around!" And I was like, "I have to go, thank you! I have to go. I have to go." 'He's like, "What?" I was like, "I got it. I got it." And I hung up the phone and so I had the idea.'The Daily Mail has reached out to Spears' representative for further comment. Justin Timberlake has shut down rumors his song What Goes Around… Comes Around was about ex-girlfriend Britney Spears In an interview with Complex's Re-Rank, the singer officially clarified the track was actually based on a personal heartbreak story told to him by a close friend. Above, Spears and Timberlake in 2002Timberlake went on to say he wrote the song 'in d**n near 20 minutes.''It was just flowing. Like the interlude that goes with it. And then you put the video with it, there's a ten minute video we shot for it. This just hit on all cylinders for me,' he said.What Comes Around… Goes Around has often been described by critics as a sequel to his 2002 single Cry Me a River, which people assume was inspired by his breakup with the …Baby One More Time hitmaker.In his 2018 book, Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me, Timberlake said he wrote Cry Me a River in two hours after being 'scorned' and 'pissed off,' without ever naming Spears.As for What Goes Around… Comes Around, Timberlake told Rose it was the first song he wrote for his album FutureLove/SexSounds. It was released in December 2006.The chorus goes: 'Is this the way it's really going down? / Is this how we say goodbye?/ Should have known better when you came around / That you were gonna make me cry / It's breaking my heart to watch you run around / 'Cause I know that you're living a lie / But that's okay, baby, 'cause in time you will find / What goes around, goes around, goes around / Comes all the way back around.'Spears, 44, confirmed in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, that she made out with choreographer Wade Robson once during a night out at a Spanish bar while she was in a relationship with Timberlake.She insisted the kiss happened only after she had learned that Timberlake had been unfaithful to her during their romance, which lasted from 1999 to 2002.'It's not a personal story from mine. It's actually a personal story from a friend. I asked permission,' Timberlake told host Jordan Rose, adding he wrote the track 'in damn near 20 minutes.' Above, Timberlake in 2024 In her 2024 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears wrote that she made out with choreographer Wade Robson once but only after she learned Timberlake had been unfaithful. Above, Spears and Timberlake in 2001 Timberlake married actress Jessica Biel in 2012 and they have two sons, Silas, 11, and Phineas, six Spears later apologized 'for some of the things I wrote about in my book,' after Timberlake told a crowd, 'I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f***ing nobody' 'There were a couple of times during our relationship when I knew Justin had cheated on me,' Spears described in her memoir. 'Especially because I was so infatuated and so in love, I let it go, even though the tabloids seemed determined to rub my face in it.'I let it all go, but clearly, he'd slept around. It was one of those things where you know but you just don't say anything.‘I was loyal to Justin for years, only had eyes for him with that one exception, which I admitted to him,’ she wrote, referring to the kiss with Robson.In February 2024, Spears made another public comment about Timberlake after he performed two songs on Saturday Night Live.'I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry,' she wrote in an Instagram post, which she soon deleted, per People.‘I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song 'Selfish' It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy [Fallon] together I laugh so hard??? P.S. Sanctified is wow too.’During a concert in New York City in January 2024, Timberlake seemingly addressed the drama swirling around Spears’ claims by telling the crowd: 'I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely f***ing nobody,' before launching into his hit Cry Me a River, People also reported.Timberlake married actress Jessica Biel, 44, in 2012 and they have two sons, Silas, 11, and Phineas, six. Spears' storied love life includes three marriages - to Jason Alexander, which was annulled; Kevin Federline, with whom she shares her sons, Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19; and Sam Asghari, who she divorced in 2024.She was last linked to her former housekeeper, Paul Richard Soliz.