Timbaland apologises for saying Justin Timberlake should have 'put a muzzle' on Britney Spears

Timbaland has apologised for saying that Justin Timberlake should have "put a muzzle" on Britney Spears.

The rapper/producer has recently faced backlash after stating that the NSYNC singer should have "put a muzzle" on the Oops!...I Did It Again hitmaker.

In Britney's recently released memoir, The Woman in Me, she revealed a number of details about her and Justin's three-year relationship, including that he had allegedly urged her to have an abortion after she fell pregnant.

"She going crazy, right?" Timbaland told a reporter of Britney, according to footage obtained by Pop Base, during an interview at the Kennedy Center. "I wanted to call and say, 'JT you've got to put a muzzle on that girl, man,'"

Soon after the interview, the 51-year-old received a huge amount of criticism online.

"I apologise to the Britney fans and her," he said on Tuesday during a TikTok livestream. "You know about respecting women - hell yeah."

He continued, "You have a voice. You speak what you wanna speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak?"

Britney and the Cry Me a River singer dated from 1999 until 2002.