Timbaland apologises after saying Justin Timberlake should ‘muzzle’ Britney Spears over memoir

Music producer caused outrage with language used to describe Spears, who wrote at length about ex-boyfriend Timberlake in The Woman in Me

Music producer Timbaland has apologised for saying his frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake should “muzzle” his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears after the publication of her memoir The Woman in Me.

Timbaland made the comments on 29 October in conversation with fellow producer 9th Wonder at a talk event at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, with the comments later circulating online. When an audience member mentioned the memoir, Timbaland said: “She’s going crazy, right? I wanted to call and say, ‘JT, man, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl.’” He used a jocular tone, but the demeaning language caused outrage among Spears fans.