CONK!
The method of dropping scintillating tidbits in order to leave the audience begging for more has become the new way to sell celebrity memoirs. In the case of Jada Pinkett-Smith and Britney Spears, this marketing ploy might backfire.
Ma Tha Siobhan (If God is Merciful).
Last week Jada Pinkett-Smith, whose sole career of late seems to be as an antagonist to her estranged husband Will Smith, decided to drop the bombshell that the two have been separated since 2016. So, all that business with the Red Table Talk where she forced Will to talk about their affairs and his complicity in the breakdown of their marriage, as well as the Oscar Slap was nothing but manufactured drama. They were working on nothing other than clicks and ratings.
Tacky.
Sports host and social commentator Stephen A. Smith was feeling me as he went on a detailed rant about the Smiths and their voluminous oversharing. Pinkett-Smith is on the PR circuit promoting her memoir Worthy. Expect it to be in the $1 bargain bin within six months. Pinkett-Smith has dropped the majority of what could have been of interest to those who actually like her, but she has turned off anyone else who might have been inclined to sympathize with her. I covered a bit of Pinkett-Smith’s version of Toxic Femininity in this RedState article. Smith is way more compassionate, but still highlights some of my points.
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Then there is Britney Spears, who is also promoting her memoir due on October 24, The Woman In Me. From Spears behavior of late, including another public divorce from husband No. 3, to dancing with knives on TikTok, there might be more than one. I am not making light of her mental illness, which she has been quite open about; I am pointing out that to keep giving her oxygen when what she clearly needs is an intervention, is unwise. But, this is Hollywood.
The latest drop leading up to the book’s release date is that Spears had an abortion while in a relationship with fellow New Mickey Mouse Club alum and singer Justin Timberlake.
Britney Spears has revealed she had an abortion while she was in a relationship with fellow singer Justin Timberlake, calling it “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”
The pop icon opened up about the decision in her new memoir, The Woman in Me, according to People. The duo, who were together for three years, began dating in 1999 when Spears was 17 and the NSYNC alum was 18, with their relationship ending in 2002. Spears says that her decision to have the abortion was because Timberlake didn’t want to go through with the pregnancy.
“Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy,” she alleges, according to People. “He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”
She added in the book, “I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”
Spears went on to claim his stance “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.”
While this gives insight into some things and what no doubt planted the seeds that helped lead to Spears downward spiral, is this really something any of us needed to know? Both Spears and Timberlake capitalized off their relationship, and Timberlake practically built his solo career on their breakup and Spears’ supposed betrayal of him. Timberlake has been rumored to be a cheater, dating back to before his marriage with Biel. These rumors have often been dismissed as just gossip. Bottom line: there are no innocents in this scenario, and Timberlake looks more and more like a dirty dog, and he comes off even dirtier the more Spears chooses to spill about the past.
Timberlake decided to issue a statement on these recent revelations to Entertainment Tonight.
“Justin has been focusing on his own family and trying not to concern himself with Britney’s memoir,” the source says. “In recent years, Justin has tried to be supportive of Britney from a distance. They dated so long ago, but he still has respect for her. Justin and Jessica just want everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past.”
Actually, the statement is evasive, dismissive, and shows a massive lack of respect to someone for whom who he claimed to have respect. However, Timberlake does have a point. Beyond public flagellation of him by Spears fans and cultists, and sympathy and greater book sales for Spears, what exactly is being accomplished from this revelation? Has it made Spears any better to have divulged it publicly? Confession is indeed good for the soul, but confession can be accomplished with a close friend or confidante, a spiritual leader, or a help hotline. It doesn’t have to involve a photo spread in People magazine.
What both of these women need is less public attention, and more people who are willing to tell them the truth. One needs it because they have been lied to and manipulated their entire life. The other needs it because she has thrived off manipulating others and has profited from living a lie.
As Stephen A. Smith said in his video, you cannot expect things to end well when you air every piece of dirty laundry for public consumption.
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