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From Disney Mouseketeer to DWI arrest: The highs and lows of Justin Timberlake’s career

Justin Timberlake has many fans, along with a few haters. The latter of whom probably aren’t crying a river for the pop singer right now.

From a fresh-faced Disney Mouseketeer to a breakout member of NSYNC turned-solo-artist and movie star, Timberlake has had an impressive career spanning three decades. He’s also had more than one moment in an unflattering spotlight.

Timberlake survived the public scrutiny about his personal life that follows handsome tripple-threats on their rise to fame, an infamous Super Bowl debacle, and, until Tuesday, he made it to age 43 without a mug shot.

Britney Spears and then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake arrive at the premiere of her movie "Crossroads" in 2002. 

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Timberlake appeared to be pointing fingers at Spears when he released his single “Cry Me a River,” which focused on infidelity and featured a Spears look alike in the music video. Success from that single and others on his “Justified” album helped to firmly establish Timberlake as a solo artist. His collaborations with producers The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), Timbaland and Scott Storch burned up the charts and contributed to the soundtrack for the early 2000s.

Years later, in her memoir “The Woman In Me,” Spears dropped a bombshell, writing that she had become pregnant by Timberlake during their relationship and had an abortion.

“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy,” she wrote. “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.”

Timberlake, she alleged, “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,” she wrote.

Timberlake never directly responded to the content featured in Spears’ memoir about their relationship.