HE'S BACK DESPITE BRIT!

Shrugging off the swirling Britney controversy, Justin Timberlake is excited to be dropping a new album

- MAXINE PETERS

HE USED to be known as the golden boy of pop, and with his slick moves and catchy tunes, he seemingly couldn’t put a foot wrong.

It also didn’t hurt that he was dating Britney Spears, whose rising star power reflected on him and made him shine brighter.

Fast forward two decades and Justin Timberlake is a 43-year-old dad of two – and even though he and Britney split in the early 2000s, fans can’t forget the fallout after their relationship imploded.

Every time Justin releases new music the story gets rehashed: how the former NSYNC singer broke Britney’s heart and used it to his advantage to launch his solo career. The standout track Cry Me a River on his debut album, Justified, was interpreted as a cruel taunt to his ex.

It’s been six years since Justin dropped a new single – but this time instead of fighting the Britney connection he seems to have embraced it.

His new song is called Selfish, which is the same title as a hit track off Britney’s 2011 album, Femme Fatal. But if it was a calculated move to drum up interest in his upcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was, it has backfired somewhat.

Britney fans, enraged about how he appears to once again be milking their ill-fated connection, have been streaming the songbird’s old song repeatedly, resulting in it surging to No 1 on the iTunes chart. Justin’s Selfish, meanwhile, trailed at No 3.

Fans are still outraged by the claims Britney made in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, about how Justin put pressure on her to have an abortion after she became pregnant while they were together.