- Backstory: Widely considered a response to Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," Spears's haunting ballad was released nearly a year after her ex's hit. "My weakness caused you pain, and this song's my sorry," Spears sings in the ballad's bridge.
- Evidence: It rains heavily in Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" — not just in the intro and outro, but also in the video. Spears's lyrics address this: "I may have made it rain. Please forgive me." Still, she never confirmed whether the song was her public apology to Timberlake, instead focusing on its personal origins. In an interview in 2003 [1], Spears said she "wrote the whole thing from scratch on the piano. Musically there was no track or anything. I was just at my house and I did the whole thing by myself."
- Verdict: It seems highly likely "Everytime" is about Timberlake.