Hi, It’s Me. The Bitch In His Song
From Eminem’s “Kim” to Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” to the countless songs released this year calling their exes “bitches,” men have built empires from trash-talking women, but no one has asked how she feels about it.
The female side of the story has been purposely left out of the discussion.
In her latest memoir, The Woman In Me, Britney Spears talks about how Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” destroyed her public image. The truth is, being that bitch in songs is not all fun.
Released just months after their breakup, “Cry Me A River” tells a story of heartbreak and betrayal. In the music video, Timberlake cast a blonde woman who resembled Spears to play the unfaithful partner while positioning himself to be the one being heartbroken and seeking revenge/comfort in another woman’s arms.
“The thought of my betraying him gave the album more angst, gave it a purpose: shit-talking an unfaithful woman,” Spears wrote. The world speculated that the song was about her and fired in her way.
She Felt She Couldn’t Tell Her Side of the Story
“Everyone felt very sorry for him. And it shamed me,” Spears wrote. “I don’t think Justin realized the power he had in shaming me. I don’t think he understands to this day.
How bad was it? Spears described that she was booed everywhere she went. She said she couldnt go through a Lakers game with her friends and family without being booed because of how the song had portrayed her as a “cheating slut,” “a liar and hypocrite.” It destroyed the American sweetheart public image that Spears and her team had built.
Kim Mathers Attempted Suicide After Eminem Performed “Kim” In Concerts
It’s no secret that Eminem’s revengeful rap song “Kim” is about his ex wife. The rapper had written many songs about their relationship, but “Kim” is a particularly violent one, in which the rapper fantasized killing her.
Eminem admitted that he was on drugs when he wrote the song, which amplified the mood he was in and made the song much more extreme.
He revealed that Kim’s reaction to the song after listening was, “are you fucking crazy.” He said she also didn’t want to hear it again.
In a 2000 concert, Eminem performed the song with his ex wife in the audience. He had previously promised that the song was not going to be in the concert. During the act, he attacked a doll that looked like her before throwing it into the crowd. Kim left the concert and later attempted suicide.
This event led to Kim suing Eminem for $10 million over emotional distress and punitive damage. The defamation suit also demanded that Eminem to never write her into songs again. They eventually settled outside the court when the couple later rekindled.
Similarly, Eminem’s mother also brought a defamation lawsuit against the rapper.
They may not talk about it all the time, but it seems clear that the women who have been badly portrayed in songs are not having fun. Their voices have been left out of conversations. They have silently suffered from it, and they are pissed.
As the “rotten bitch” who kept on rotting in my ex’s songs, I felt disassociated from the person he portrayed. This isn’t me. I immediately recognized, but then, Is this how he really thinks about me? sneaks in, and I can’t help but wonder, perhaps it is. A part of me believed his portrayal of me, and it has messed with my head for a long time.
Wanna read about my own experience being “that bitch” in my ex’s songs?
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