Fans Reflect on Britney Spears' "Everytime" Video After Abortion Reports

Fans of Britney Spears have been speculating about the meaning behind her song "Everytime" and whether it contains references to the abortion she had in 2000. In her new memoir, the singer revealed that she had a termination after becoming pregnant with Justin Timberlake during their relationship. Spears, who was a teenager at the time, dated Timberlake from 1999 to 2002. Excerpts from her upcoming memoir, titled "The Woman in Me," disclose that Timberlake "didn't want to be a father." Spears also expressed that while the pregnancy was unexpected, she didn't see it as a tragedy and that she had always envisioned starting a family with Timberlake. She shared that the abortion took place in late 2000 when she was 18 or 19 years old and described it as one of the most agonizing experiences she had ever been through. The speculation regarding "Everytime" stems from its lyrics, which some fans believe could be referring to the abortion. They interpret the song as an apology to the unborn baby rather than merely mourning the end of Spears' relationship with Timberlake. Specifically, the chorus, with lines like "And every time I see you in my dreams I see your face, you're haunting me. I guess I need you, baby," has been reinterpreted by some fans in light of these revelations. The song was co-written by Spears and Annet Artani, while the music video, directed by David LaChapelle, was released in 2004. According to PRS, the organization managing music rights, the writing credits for the song are divided as 65% Britney and 35% Artani. Some fans have also pointed out certain scenes in the music video that they believe allude to an abortion. The video showcases Britney's intense fame, capturing her being pursued by paparazzi and fans, and eventually getting injured when hit by a camera. It transitions to her retreating to a hotel room, where she enters a bathtub, loses consciousness, bleeds, and drowns. The video then alternates between scenes of Spears being revived by doctors in a hospital bed and her ghost witnessing the events. Near the end, Spears' ghost walks into another hospital room where a baby girl is being born. While the video does not explicitly reference an abortion, fans have theorized that the baby represents the one Britney aborted, living in an alternate reality where the situation turned out differently. Fans have also revisited live performances of "Everytime" since Spears revealed details about the abortion. One clip shows her touching her stomach while singing the song, and another displays her interrupting a performance to kiss her two sons, who are seated in the audience. Timberlake has not commented on Spears' recent revelation, but in a social media post earlier this year, he apologized and took accountability for his past behavior during their relationship. Some have seen Timberlake's song "Cry Me a River," released after their breakup in 2002, as capitalizing on their relationship struggles, as he incorporated a Britney lookalike in the video. Artani, the co-writer of "Everytime," has stated that the song served partly as a response to "Cry Me a River" when Timberlake was publicly speaking negatively about Spears. In her book, Spears will focus on her 13-year conservatorship under her father, James. The memoir is set to be published on October 24, two years after the conservatorship ended, which she described as stripping her of her womanhood.