Who Is Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around...Comes Around" About?

Originally appeared on E! Online

What goes around comes all the way back around 20 years later.

Nearly two decades after Justin Timberlake released his 2006 single "What Goes Around…Comes Around," the Grammy winner set the record straight on the longtime speculation that the track was inspired by his breakup with Britney Spears .

"Maybe I should dispel a rumor at this point, which has gone around forever," the 45-year-old shared on a Nov. 5 episode of Complex's Re-Rank podcast. "It's not a personal story from mine."

In fact, Timberlake—who famously dated Spears from 1999 to 2002—said the song, which follows a woman who betrays her partner, before karma results in her facing the same fate, is "actually a personal story from a friend" that he asked to use as inspiration for the track.

"He was just going through it, and he was telling me what had happened," he recalled. "I said, 'Do you mind if I write about this?' And I quote, my friend said, 'Yeah, torch that b--ch. What goes around comes around.'"

"And I was like, 'I have to go. Thank you,'" Timberlake joked while pretending like he was on a phone. ...