“Fo’ Shiz, Fo’ Shiz”: Michelle Williams’ Narration of Britney Spears’ Memoir—One Passage in Particular—Has Gone Viral

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 25 October 2023

As Marie Claire reported earlier this month, Britney Spears turned over narration duties of the audiobook for her memoir, The Woman in Me, to five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. “This book has been a labor of love and all the emotions that come with it,” Spears said. “Reliving everything has been exciting, heart-wrenching, and emotional, to say the least. For those reasons, I will only be reading a small part of my audiobook. I am so grateful to the amazing Michelle Williams for reading the rest of it.”

Williams, for her part, left no doubt about how she feels about Spears and her story: “I stand with Britney,” she said.

The book and its accompanying audiobook were released yesterday, and one clip in particular—where Williams impersonates Spears’ ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, while the two were dating in the early 2000s—has gone viral.

In the clip, Williams reads Spears’ written words: “His band *NSYNC was what people back then called ‘so pimp,’” she said. “They were white boys, but they loved hip-hop. To me, that’s what separated them from the Backstreet Boys—who seemed very consciously to position themselves as a white group. *NSYNC hung out with Black artists. One day, J and I were in New York, going to parts of town I had never been to before. Walking our way was a guy with a huge, blinged out medallion—he was flanked by two giant security guards. J got all excited and said so loud, ‘Oh yeah, fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz. Ginuwine, what’s up, my homie?’ After Ginuwine walked away, Felicia [Culotta] did an impression of J: ‘Oh yeah, fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz, Ginuwne.’ J wasn’t even embarrassed.”

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake during their relationship

Williams’ impression of Timberlake is so—how shall we say?—epic that it has led to the clip being viewed more than 9 million times on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Entertainment Tonight reports. “Additionally, the excerpt has been quoted and replied to by thousands of users who could not believe the impersonation that Williams brought to the table,” the outlet reports. One fan put it this way: “Oh, Michelle is winning that Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, and everything in between.”

"The Woman in Me" by Britney Spears Audiobook

Other fan reactions sum up the instantly classic moment well: “Five-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams saying ‘fo’ shiz, fo’ shiz, what’s up homie?’ is art,” one person tweeted, while another perhaps put it best: “I cannot believe we are living in a reality where Michelle Williams saying ‘fo’ shiz’ exists.”

The Woman in Me’s audiobook is out now.

TOPICS

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

Stay In The Know