Britney Spears’ 2011 Song “Selfish” Surpasses Ex Justin Timberlake’s New Song “Selfish”

Britney Spears fans banded together to help her 2011 song “Selfish” surpass ex Justin Timberlake’s new single “Selfish” on a major chart.

By Leah Degrazia Jan 26, 2024 11:27 PMTags
Watch: Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake Battle On The iTunes Charts With 'Selfish' Songs

Oops!... Britney Spears fans did it again. 

This time, the "Toxic" singer's stan army successfully banded together to stream her 2011 song "Selfish" so it would surpass ex Justin Timberlake's new single of the same name on the U.S. iTunes Top Songs chart. 

Britney's deep cut—a bonus track off her 2011 Femme Fatale album—climbed to number one on the chart Jan. 26, while Justin's "Selfish," released less than 24 hours before, sat at number three.

The plan to push past Justin's song on the chart was concocted on X, where Britney Army accounts urged their followers to stream her music in an attempt to tamp down sales of Justin's forthcoming album, Everything I Thought I Was. His love song "Selfish" is the first single off the 42-year-old's upcoming record, set to drop March 15. 

Justin—who married Jessica Biel in 2012—sings on the track, "'Cause your lips were made for mine / And my heart would go flatline / If it wasn't beatin' for you all the time."

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Secrets You Might Not Know About Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time

All this trolling comes three months after Britney got candid about her early-aughts relationship with Justin in her memoirThe Woman in Me. In the book, published in October, the 42-year-old shared a number of revelations about their past romance, including that she became pregnant with the "Cry Me A River" singer's baby but had an abortion. 

"It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn't a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I'd anticipated," Britney wrote of the pregnancy in the book. "But Justin definitely wasn't happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren't ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young."

Photo by SGranitz/WireImage

The pair, who first met as Mouseketeers on Disney Channel's The Mickey Mouse Club, went their separate ways in 2002, with Justin breaking up with the Grammy winner over text message. 

"I was so devastated," Britney recounted. "I couldn't speak for months."

Justin has yet to publicly address the comments Britney made about their relationship in her memoir. 

Keep reading to revisit the complete timeline of Britney and Justin's relationship.  

Good Jeans

Spears and Timberlake dated between 1999 and 2002.

Pre-Grammys Party

The two attended Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy Awards party at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2002.

Planet Hollywood Date

They hosted a Super Bowl fundraiser at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Times Square in NYC in 2002.

Album Release Party

Timberlake joined Spears at the release party for her album Britney in 2001.

Crossroads Premiere

The following year, he was her plus one at the premiere of her movie.

Shootin' Hoops

Spears was along for the ride when N*SYNC participated at a celebrity basketball game. 

2000 MTV VMAs

All eyes were on them at music's biggest night.

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

A very young Spears and Timberlake appeared with All New Mickey Mouse Club co-stars such as Ryan Gosling and Christina Aguilera.

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