Britney Spears’ Music Video Director Recalls Justin Timberlake Breaking Up With Singer Via Text on Set

One of Britney Spears‘ past music video directors, Chris Applebaum, recently recalled an emotional moment that went down on set while shooting the video for the pop star’s track “Overprotected (Darkchild Remix)” in 2002.

Applebaum appeared on the Wednesday, August 5 episode of the Hyperfixated with Joseph Shepherd podcast and explained that “toward the end of the second day,” in about hour 20 of the shoot, they were supposed to be filming in an alleyway in downtown Los Angeles. However, the singer, 44, was in her trailer, not on set, so Applebaum went to investigate.

“So, I walked in, and Britney was there. And I was like, ‘Is everything okay?’ And everyone’s solemn … they have like iron curtain eyes. They’re like really dark. I looked around, and nobody said anything,” he recounted. “Britney’s like, ‘Um, well, something happened.’ I’m like, What happened?’ She’s like, ‘This.’ And she shows me her flip phone screen, like one of those little Nokia whatever where it’s just, you know, a digital text or whatever. And I saw that her boyfriend had written to her to end the relationship.”

The boyfriend was none other than Justin Timberlake. The former couple had been dating since 1999 after meeting in the early ’90s while filming The Mickey Mouse Club.

Applebaum said he told Spears he was so sorry and understood if she was done shooting for the day, but he also offered her another idea.

“The other thing you could do … you could get back out there and do a performance that’s so hot that you show him that he just lost — he just messed up the best thing he’s ever had,” Applebaum remembered telling the princess of pop.

The idea resonated with Spears as Applebaum said a “lightbulb” went off in her and she exclaimed, “‘That’s it! You’re right! Let’s do that.'”