Date: 6th January 2003
Australian Wade Robson has danced with Michael Jackson, written hit songs and is about to direct Disney films - but he cannot shake his reputation as the man who broke up the prince and princess of pop.
The former Brisbane boy, who was a choreographer/songwriter for pop sensations Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, has long danced around rumours that he was involved in their public split last June.
But in the past few weeks, US gossip magazines have discarded months of vague speculation and universally named Robson as the secret lover of Spears who caused the most talked about celebrity split of last year.
The reports were fuelled by last month's release of Timberlake's latest video Cry Me a River, which takes a thinly veiled shot at his former girlfriend.
In the video, a young woman bearing a striking resemblance to the pop princess is seen getting into a silver Porsche, like the one Spears owns, with another man as Timberlake lurks in the shadows.
While Timberlake, 21, refuses to go into detail, the *NSYNC heart-throb has begun to hint in recent weeks that the break-up of the three-year relationship was due to Spears' infidelity.
"She has a beautiful heart, but if I've lost my trust in someone, I don't think it's right for me to be with them," he told one magazine.
"I don't feel like I'm saying too much by saying she knows why this happened. Britney's a fire sign, a Sagittarius - they do things on a whim."
Robson, 20, is not surprised by the reports he had an affair with his former dance muse, but flatly denies he was the cause of the break-up.
The entertainer, who moved to the US after winning a Michael Jackson look-alike competition at age six, said there had been rumours about himself and Spears, 20, since he first worked with her four years ago.
"We have never been romantically involved," he said. "People have always tried to say that we were together, but it wasn't true. We had a very close, creative relationship, but that's all. I was shocked by the break-up, but there were more complicated things involved than just me."
On holiday with his family on the Gold Coast, he said he was still friends with Timberlake and Spears.
Robson has been signed to direct three Disney pictures after the studio was impressed by his direction of television specials of *NSYNC and Spears.
Sunday Herald Sun
Source: Press Release
Advertising Terms & Conditions Privacy Statement Press
© 1999 - 2024 Cinema.com