Music Justin Timberlake starts 'Cry Me a River' performance with disclaimer amid Britney Spears memoir backlash "No disrespect." By Emlyn Travis Emlyn Travis Emlyn Travis is a news writer at Entertainment Weekly with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News, Teen Vogue, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Paper Magazine, Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022. EW's editorial guidelines Published on December 15, 2023 11:03AM EST Justin Timberlake is making his intentions clear, sort of. The 42-year-old singer gave a brief disclaimer before performing his 2002 hit single “Cry Me a River” at the opening of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday. The song, which has lyrics that describe an unfaithful partner, was recently denounced by his ex Britney Spears in her new memoir, The Woman in Me. In video footage shared on TikTok, Timberlake can be seen turning toward the crowd as the music starts, putting his hands out, and saying, “No disrespect.” Justin Timberlake. Kevin Mazur/Getty He then launches into a short segment from his 2013 collaboration with Jay-Z, “Holy Grail,” which interpolates Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” singing, “Ain’t we all just entertainers? / And we’re stupid and contagious / Know we all just entertainers.” Spears and Timberlake dated for several years before their breakup in 2002. In addition to the song's lyrics, the music video for “Cry Me a River,” which was released the same year as their split, featured a blonde woman who looked eerily similar to Spears. In her memoir, Spears wrote that the video “shattered” her. "In the news media, I was described as a harlot who'd broken the heart of America's golden boy," she writes. "The truth: I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood. May I just say that on his explosive album and in all the press that surrounded it, Justin neglected to mention the several times he'd cheated on me?” The "Circus" singer says she felt like the entire world had sided with Timberlake over their split. "I felt there was no way at the time to tell my side of the story," she writes. "I couldn't explain, because I knew no one would take my side once Justin had convinced the world of his version. I don't think Justin realized the power he had in shaming me. I don't think he understands to this day." Timberlake publicly apologized for how he treated Spears amid a wave of backlash following the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears in 2021. "I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I also feel compelled to respond, in part, because everyone involved deserves better and most importantly, because this is a larger conversation that I wholeheartedly want to be part of and grow from.” Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: Britney Spears opens up about partying with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and 'drug of choice' in mid-2000s Britney Spears learned about the #FreeBritney movement from a nurse while she was in rehab What a girl doesn't want: Christina Aguilera would rather not be in Britney Spears' new memoir Michelle Williams will narrate Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me