“Coming to end Justin’s version!”: Netizens react to Britney Spears’ Selfish re-entering US iTunes’ Top 10 amid Justin Timberlake’s comeback single

On Wednesday, January 24, 2024, Justin Timberlake, an American singer and actor, released the music video for his new song, Selfish, from the upcoming album Everything I Thought It Was. However, Britney Spears’ fan base has been trolling Justin, her ex, by running her 2011 song of the same name up the iTunes charts.

By Friday, Spears’ hit from 13 years ago was ranked at No. 2, with Timberlake’s song at No. 3 on iTunes. Timberlake has been the subject of scrutiny by many Spears fans in the last year after the release of her memoir, The Woman in Me, as per Billboard.

A netizen's reaction to news of Britney's old song taking over Timberlake's latest song (Image via X/@PopCrave)

The singer claimed in her book that she had an abortion while they were dating because Justin Timberlake “definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy,” as per NBC News. Netizens have reacted to Britney’s song reviving in the charts, mocking Timerlake’s new release.

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Britney Spears’ 2011 song Selfish surpasses ex Justin Timberlake’s new song

Justin Timberlake rose to fame in late 1997 as the lead vocalist for the boyband NSYNC. In 2002, he gained popularity as a solo artist and became a Grammy-winning solo musician and actor. He began dating Britney Spears in 1999, when the pair were still teenagers, and their relationship went through very public highs and lows. They first met on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club, as NBC News.

Timberlake ended the relationship in 2002 via text during a video shoot, as per Rolling Stone. This Friday, January 26, Britney's Selfish hit No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart, reviving the bonus track from her album Femme Fatale and outperforming his new song by the same name. The song ranked No. 1 for a few hours before Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald’s FACTS (feat. Ben Shapiro) began topping the list.

Britney’s fan accounts allegedly began to stream her music to interfere with the marketing of Justin Timberlake’s forthcoming album, Everything I Thought I Was. His love song, Selfish, is the first single off the 42-year-old’s upcoming record, set to drop on March 15, as per E! News.

In her memoir, The Woman In Me, Spears claimed she had an abortion after getting pregnant by Timberlake. She wrote that he cheated on her “a couple of times” and that she also cheated on him once with a dancer.

Britney’s fan base has advocated for her for years, supporting her through her career and familial challenges. The singer has even credited the #FreeBritney movement, a collective of fans who largely gathered online to question if Britney needed to be under the conservatorship of her father. The 13-year conservatorship ended in 2021.

The coincidence of getting Spears’ song trending “started as a joke,” according to fan account BritneyxYtube, who spoke with Entertainment Weekly on Thursday. They said,

"Then we all joined in, saying that Britney Spears was coming back with a ‘brand’ new song. I still can’t believe that it became so big, and we see the results we see now."

Netizens reacted to the clever ruse of re-entering the artist's album at the same time as Justin Timberlake's Selfish release. Some of the reactions are given below.

Justin Timberlake premiered the song Selfish during a hometown performance at Memphis’ Orpheum Theater, giving a preview of the mid-tempo track. As per Variety, he is set to perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend as the show’s musical guest.