Justin Timberlake Dumped Britney Spears VIA TEXT MESSAGE, Says Director Chris Applebaum!

Whoa! The director of one of Britney Spears’ music videos just spilled some major tea about the AWFUL way Justin Timberlake apparently broke up with her more than 20 years ago!

Back in the day, the singers were one of the world’s hottest couples between 1999 and 2002. So when they ended up calling it quits suddenly, many people were surprised by the news, and of course, speculation ensued. And one of the biggest rumors to come out of the breakup? That Britney had been cheating on Justin. Adding fuel to the fire at the time, the *NSYNC member dropped the track Cry Me a River shortly after things ended between them, which featured lyrics that further suggested Brit had stepped out. While Justin never confirmed the rumors, he certainly never took the time to stop his ex from becoming the villain of their split.

The details about what went down with their breakup have since remained pretty fuzzy – though Britney has called out the Palmer star for his song. She previously said:

“Pssss guess what???? I had a calling last night from Jesus and you know what he said??? ‘Dear child … your mom had a serving with her book at the exact time when you needed her most… all for WHAT?? FAME and ATTENTION!!!!” [Jesus said,] Your ex did the same thing … he served with his first album using your name claiming you did him dirty!!!”

Related: Sam Asghari Reveals Britney Spears Closet Has A Framed Picture Of Celeb Crush Brad Pitt!

The Toxic performer didn’t go into specifics at the time. (Perhaps, saving all the juicy details for her upcoming memoir?!) But now, it looks like Chris Applebaum, who worked with Britney on her video for Overprotected, gave a teaser into how Justin may have been the one to do her pretty dirty at the time!

The director took to Instagram on Friday to share a throwback picture from the music video shoot, writing in the caption:

“2nd time my IG acct was hacked, but I have it back after 9 months, so here’s a picture of me with @britneyspears before I grew the beard. This was taken on the 2nd shoot day for her ‘Overprotected’ video. It was a (planned) 24 hr shoot day and we had one crew clock out after 12 hrs & a new one clock in. At some point during the 2nd shift Brit disappeared and I went to her trailer to fetch her…only to discover her BF Justin had just broken up with her via text message. (Let me recommend to any who reads this: don’t break up via text!)”

What?! Via a text message! Talk about a lame way to break up with someone – especially when you’ve been in a relationship with them for three years!

He continued:

“We sat on the floor of her trailer for a minute, talked it out, and then rallied. I told her she should get out there & show Justin he made the biggest mistake of his life. That was just one of the stories from this shoot…”

Wonder what else might have happened on that shoot since her and Justin’s split supposedly went down right then and there! Ch-ch-check out the post (below):

Listen to Chris, guys, and don’t call it quits with your significant other over text like Justin allegedly did. Reactions? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!

[Image via WENN, Source Creative Interviews/YouTube]