Hell be not as petty as a Britney stan scorned.
Justin Timberlake paused his long-running apology tour to release what for all intents and purposes is his comeback single, "Selfish."
But in an act of pure pop pettiness, fans of ex-girlfriend/superior pop star Britney Spears have decided to drive her 13-year-old song of the same name up the charts.
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake.J. Merritt/Getty; Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
The push apparently stemmed from a tweet by the Britney stan account on X (formerly Twitter), touting the "release" of "Selfish," a track from the deluxe version of Spears' 2011 album Femme Fatale.
The song entered the top 40 of the U.S. iTunes chart earlier today and as of this writing is threatening the top 10.
According to the Britney fan account BritneyxYtube this all "started as a joke" when Timberlake announced his new single, off his first album in five years, the upcoming Everything I Thought It Was.
"Then we all joined in, saying that Britney Spears was coming back with a 'brand' new song," BritneyxYtube tells EW. "I still can't believe that it became so big, and we see the results we see now."
They added, "We are all so happy to see her song making a come back after all these years!!!"
Spears recently confirmed that she has no plans for a comeback of her own, writing on Instagram earlier this month that she "will never return to the music industry," in response to rumors she had enlisted artists like Charli XCX for a new album.
As for Timberlake, the tides have turned against the once golden boy of pop, after his past actions against Spears — as well as the pop blueprint Janet Jackson (never forget) — were re-evaluated through a contemporary lens.
And then the publication of Spears' memoir last year, The Woman in Me, revealed some ugly truths about hers and Timberlake's relationship, such as the abortion he urged her to have and his manipulation of the narrative around their break-up with the "Cry Me a River" video.
While Britney may have moved on, her fans are still carrying a grudge. But that won't stop Timberlake, who will perform his "Selfish" on Saturday Night Live this weekend as the musical guest with host Dakota Johnson.
Additional reporting by Yolanda Machado.
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