In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Britney Spears opened up about how the image the public saw wasn’t entirely her choice. She explained that her team carefully crafted a narrative around her, pushing the idea that she was a virgin to protect her image, especially because she had a large teenage fanbase.
Britney revealed that she actually lost her virginity at age 14 to a close family friend, but the public was led to believe she remained abstinent for years. Even while living with Justin Timberlake and being in a serious relationship, her management insisted on promoting a virginal image. It wasn’t until later that she publicly stated she first had sex two years into her relationship with Timberlake, something she now says was far from the truth.
She also questioned why her sexual history was ever treated as such a public issue, wondering why people around her worked so hard to control a part of her life that should’ve been private.
Her memoir also gained attention for revealing that she and Timberlake chose to have a secret abortion in the early 2000s, a decision she hadn’t spoken about before.
Britney said that during much of her career, and especially under her conservatorship, she stayed quiet as others spoke on her behalf. Now free from that control, she finally feels able to share her truth in her own words.
