Britney Spears’ memoir delayed after exes Justin Timberlake and Colin Farrell stress about potential bombshells

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Britney Spears’ forthcoming memoir The Woman In Me was reportedly delayed after lawyers for her ex-boyfriends Justin Timberlake and Colin Farrell demanded to see an early copy of the book.

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According to sources who spoke to the U.S. Sun, lawyers acting for the pair threatened to sue if the pop star “didn’t remove intimate details of their clients’ lives.”

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The move caused a four-month delay to the publication of Spears’ tell-all, which hits stores in October, as they haggled over some of the personal details she wanted to include.

“Lawyers demanded to see her book in advance and were adamant that some of the revelations were removed,” an insider told the publication. “There are still plenty of gobsmacking tales but Justin and Colin were conscious about what could be said about them. The legal process meant the publication was held up by four months as discussions went back and forth about what could be included. But that has finally now been settled and her autobiography is all ready to go.”

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Spears, 41, dated Timberlake from from 1999 to 2002 and was linked to Farrell in 2003.

According to an earlier report, sources claimed that the book would reveal that Farrell irked Spears after he allegedly sent her a bumper sticker that read, ‘Honk If You’ve Slept With Colin Farrell.’

“At that time, he was the hottest young actor in Hollywood, and she was swept away by the romance of him taking a shine to her,” a source told the U.S. Sun of the fling.

“People forget that then she was not that experienced with boys or the dating game, so when they had their fling, she was taken aback by how nonchalant and disconnected he was.

“She was shocked at how he treated it all like a joke. And when the car sticker came through, she was deeply annoyed and also angered.”

A second insider told the outlet that the read is “brilliant and heartfelt.”

“It has given Britney the chance to tell her own story, which certainly hasn’t been easy but which will be incredibly enlightening for her fans,” they said.

Spears’ book will delve into her personal life and the “abusive” conservatorship that she lived under for more than a decade. “They literally killed me,” she said of her family. “They threw me away. That’s what I felt — I felt like my family threw me away.”

Earlier this month, the Toxic hitmaker shared a link to the memoir’s cover with a graphic reading, “My story. On my terms. At last.”

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The publisher describes it as a “brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.”

The website for The Woman In Me adds that the book “reveals for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history,” and that it “illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.”

“Britney’s compelling testimony in open court [about her conservatorship] shook the world, changed laws and showed her inspiring strength and bravery,” Gallery Books senior vice president and publisher Jennifer Bergstrom added in a statement to PEOPLE.

“I have no doubt her memoir will have a similar impact — and will be the publishing event of the year. We couldn’t be more proud to help her share her story at last.”

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Twitter: @markhdaniell