The History of Justin and Britney

Love's Young Dream?  Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake  - two of the most famous and influential people in pop during the 90s, whose relationship with each other made them even more interesting. 

Justin and Britney met whilst performing as part of New Mickey Mouse Club at the age of just eleven and were a couple for around ten years.  Awww - how sweet...  So what exactly went wrong?  Let's start at the very beginning...

Britney Spears; most people have an opinion about her, and the Britney Spears gossip mill is second to none. To some she was originally a role model for girls, who promoted ambition and ensured that her image was always appropriate for a young market. To others her image was seen as raunchy, and her video for ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ is sometimes criticised as being inappropriate because it portrayed her in a school uniform but still appeared very sexual.

Some say that she is a good parent, that her brash actions in the past few years, such as shaving her head, are just a cry for help, and that being pushed too hard has caused her to react in this way. However, it is also argued that she has not been there for her children enough, and that she is simply an attention seeker. Love or hate the woman, many people still adore and appreciate her music, whatever the Britney Spears gossip brigade care to say..

But Britney is not only a songstress, she has also written several Britney Spears biographies - books about her life (one with her mother), starred in movies and once tried to open a restaurant which closed quickly due to issues with management and money. At the beginning of her career Britney Spears dolls were also very popular amongst young girls; these dolls were, however, still wearing the sexy outfits of her music videos and were sometimes seen as inappropriate. She has endorsed many products including Pepsi and Sketchers and has put her name to video games and fragrances.

Around the same time that Britney was achieving fame, another band was coming on to the scene; *NSYNC. After deciding to all go their separate ways (the public’s boy band obsession couldn’t last forever), Justin Timberlake most definitely managed to come out of *NSYNC with more fame than his ex band mates. Arguably, this was unexpected since he was just the curly-haired one who was often overshadowed. Justin has now gone on to gain celebrity status all over the world, and has had many hit singles. He has also starred in several movies throughout his career, owned three restaurants and released his own brands of clothing and tequila. Why can these stars not just stick to one thing?

To some people it’s beginning to seem as though Justin never works alone anymore; he has done many collaborations. Madonna, Timbaland, 50 Cent, Duran Duran, Nelly, Ciara... the list goes on. Justin also appeared as a cameo in Nelly Furtado and Timbaland’s video for the song ‘Promiscuous’. Who’s next?

So with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake being two of the most famous and influential people in pop during the 90s, their relationship with each other made them even more interesting. Justin and Britney met whilst performing as part of New Mickey Mouse Club at the young age of eleven and were a couple for around ten years. They were held up as love’s young dream and teenagers all over the world wished that they were part of a relationship so long-lasting, star-studded and seemingly perfect, despite the fact that the pair couldn’t watch each other’s music videos, since they couldn’t bare seeing their other half having to act as though they were in relationships or singing passionately to someone else.

Britney, whose image was very confusing at times as she tried to appear as a role-model to young girls but was still very sexualised, always told the press that she would never have sex until marriage. This is now seen as questionable, since Justin has admitted to sleeping with her during their relationship. Through a lot of her career Britney has managed to confuse fans with how she is trying to come across and who her target market really is. Since she has such a following of young girls, she has been criticised by the press and parents alike for dressing too provocatively, dancing too suggestively, and then there was that whole thing where she kissed Madonna on stage... what was that about?

To the dismay of the many people who looked up to Justin and Britney’s relationship, and the media who thrived on a couple who were so full of power and influence, in 2002 the couple split. The dream couple that youngsters looked up to was no more.

Justin soon released the single ‘Cry Me A River’ which was arguably about his relationship with Britney and, after rumours that their break-up had been due to the fact that Britney had cheated, it raised a few eyebrows since it appeared to feature him getting revenge on a cheating woman who looked astoundingly similar to Britney. Fans of this super-famous couple were both confused and saddened; how could such a perfect duo as Justin and Britney break apart?

Since the break-up, both stars have seemed to cope in very different ways. Some years later, Britney married twice within the space of a year; firstly she had a two day marriage to Jason Alexander, which has been described as a ‘joke taken too far’. This bizarre act baffled and intrigued many people, and was arguably the first sign that the pressures of stardom were too much for her.

Britney then fell for, married, and had two sons with one of her backing dancers, Kevin Federline. This baffled fans who were all asking themselves how someone could take such a step downwards after dating one of the world’s most popular musicians. However, Justin continued to move onwards and upwards with his music becoming more and more popular, and his future relationships being with superstars such as Cameron Diaz and Jessica Biel.

After the break-up between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline (referred to by the media as ‘K-Fed’), she managed to lose custody of her two boys because her behaviour was unstable. She was criticised for partying far too much, and for letting her appearance go; you can’t hide anything when you have paparazzi cameras on you all day long.

A long, very publicised meltdown began to occur, with her breaking the rules of her visitation rights with her sons by taking them home too late, being taken to hospital on numerous occasions, and the most shocking of all, shaving her head and going to a local tattoo parlour to get two tattoos done. The day after this breakdown she was seen in a Marilyn Monroe-esque wig which many people said looked cheap and tacky.

These acts shocked the world, and the media had a field day documenting all of her reckless actions.  But something quite strange happened, and, instead of putting her down as they so often did, many people in the media began to have sympathy for Britney, saying that what she was doing was both a cry for help and attention.  She lost a lot of fans, however, and there were many people who just thought ‘what on earth are you doing?’

Justin continues, now, to move on to even bigger things. He wants to take his clothing company global, and there are rumours that he may write a book about golfing, which is one of his hobbies. He is also reported to be working in Guy Ritchie’s next movie, and is a voice actor in the Shrek movie; it seems that Justin is becoming just as big in the acting world as he is in the world of pop music. Despite the entire media storm that has surrounded him and the life that he has led, he appears to have kept it together and seems to be continuing onwards and upwards. He continues to date Jessica Biel, but she has denied any rumours that they are to get married.

Britney Spears, meanwhile, is the epitome of a star whose incredible fame at such an early stage in life has affected her adult life, and her very public meltdown means that many don’t take her seriously any more. Britney has no plans to collaborate with anyone in the near future, but a range of t-shirts designed by Britney may be in shops near you at some point in the future and she is currently still touring. Despite the fact that she has nothing big up-coming, Britney will still, however, be the talk of the media no matter what. Is she getting better? Is she melting down again? What’s her current weight? No matter what, it seems that Britney will always be in the public eye.

Justin and Britney have changed so much in the past few years, but for two stars who started out at such a young age, it is amazing that they are still so popular and that their lives continue to be interesting to the public and the media. The lives and careers of Justin and Britney have, since the age of eleven, been followed by millions of people; their rise into fame, their relationship, and everything that they have done since has been watched and either admired or criticised. Yet still, there are so many people who would love to take their places and be the stars that they have become today.

by Julie-Ann Amos, professional writer, and owner of international writing agency www.ExquisiteWriting.com

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