Alyssa Farah Griffin Defends Justin Timberlake Following Britney Spears’ Explosive Abortion Claims On ‘The View’: “They Were Both In A Very Toxic Environment”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, The View‘s pop-culture aficionado, just weighed in with her controversial opinion on Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake‘s relationship. On this morning’s episode of the hit daytime talk show, Griffin seemingly defended the NSYNC singer, who allegedly encouraged Spears to get an abortion when she was pregnant with his baby.

(Editor’s Note: The View is taking a break for Thanksgiving; despite what you may have heard, The View was not canceled today. This article was originally published on October 25, 2023, when this episode first aired. The View will return with new episodes on Monday, November 27.)

In the “Toxic” singer’s new memoir The Woman in Me, which dropped earlier this week, she looks back on the “agonizing” experience.

“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,” Spears writes in the book, per People. “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.”

In light of the pop star’s bombshell tell-all, Griffin told her fellow co-hosts at the Hot Topics table that we need to give both individuals “some grace.”

“I don’t think we’ve reckoned with how deeply toxic of a media environment and pop culture that was back then,” she said. “Britney got it the worst of most — I mean, [she was] asked about her breasts, her sex life, her dating. Things when she was 17 years old, most people didn’t face.”

Griffin continued, “On his end — and this is a little bit of speculating — I bet he felt external pressures being this pop star who had to pretend he was a virgin and they weren’t having sex.”

Spears and Timberlake dated from 1999 to 2002 — and were about 19 and 20 years old when the alleged pregnancy happened. In the book, Spears claims he cheated with “another celebrity,” while she also admits to cheating on him with choreographer Wade Robson.

“I don’t feel like there was someone they could go to in their life where they could say, ‘Hey, this is the situation. How do we handle this?’” Griffin added. “Not to say that they’re not two adults who can make it. But I think that they were both in a very toxic environment where every ounce of their lives were scrutinized.”

The former White House staffer echoed similar sentiments on Tuesday’s (Oct. 24) episode of The View‘s Behind the Table podcast.

“The pressures of being hypersexualized with then having to pretend you’re a virgin,” she said. “Like they both, in different ways, went through hell and I’m gonna try to give them both a little grace in it.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.