Soon after his split from Britney Spears did Justin Timberlake find himself in another highly-publicized relationship with none other than actress Cameron Diaz. The pair, who are believed to have first met at the 2003 Kids Choice Awards, began their romance within weeks after their first encounter.
While fans found their coupling rather random, there was no denying that Timberlake and Diaz were head over heels in love with one another. The Annie star was always seen at her ex-boyfriend’s concerts while Timberlake showed his woman nothing but support by appearing at almost every one of Diaz’s movie premieres.
What’s interesting about their split, however, is that Timberlake and Diaz didn’t end their relationship on bad terms. In fact, they remained close and even worked on several movies after their breakup, showing fans that not every romance in Hollywood has to turn nasty after calling it quits.
Cameron Diaz And Justin Timberlake’s Friendship
It was in January 2007 when Timberlake and Diaz announced their split. After almost four years of dating, sources claimed that their hectic careers are what eventually tore them apart.
Still, we should bring up the multiple claims made by outlets such as News of the World, who claimed back in 2005 that Timberlake had allegedly cheated on his then-girlfriend with a model named Lucy Clarkson. The pop star ended up suing NOTW and won the case. His publicist later said in a statement, "Yet again, a tabloid has been caught lying. Thankfully, the judicial process worked.”
While Timberlake won the case, some people still believed that infidelity may have been the real cause of the pair’s split, basing their comments on interviews Diaz has done over the years, where she makes it no secret that she’s been cheated on in the past.
"There's a moment in everybody's time where ... they find that somebody has betrayed them at some level,” the blonde beauty said during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2014. ”It’s okay if you did. Everybody gets cheated on."
She later revisited her infidelity claims in an interview with Express, gushing, "Whenever there's an end, there's a new beginning. You can't waste your time and energy dwelling on what happened or what could've been or what might've been. Relationships come, relationships go, or they stay or evolve, but we stay alive."
With that said, regardless of whether Timberlake cheated or not, Diaz has continued to remain friendly with her ex-boyfriend. Just four months after their split, the two were on a worldwide promo campaign for their movie, Shrek the Third, before reuniting for 2010’s Shrek Forever After.
Combined, both movies went on to gross over $1 billion at the box office, with Diaz earning over $20 million for the final installment. Even if working with an ex had made her feel uncomfortable, there was no way Diaz was going to miss out on one of the biggest salaries she’d earned in her career.
Nonetheless, it seemed pretty apparent that the mother of one and Timberlake were still good buddies when they went on to star in yet another movie together — this time, they joined forces for 2011’s Bad Teacher, which scored Diaz a $40 million payday.
Sources saying that the Hollywood A-listers were better off as friends seemed somewhat apparent at times while Diaz and Timberlake were still together following a GQ interview where JT revealed he doesn’t live with the Charlie’s Angels star.
Despite having dated for close to four years, Diaz and Timberlake never even considered the idea of moving in, with JT telling the news publication how he prefers having his own space.
“I have my own house. It’s very important. Healthy. Don’t you ever need your own space?” he shared.
One also has to wonder how Diaz felt when the “My Love” hitmaker appeared on The Ellen Show to gush about having no plans in the near future of settling down and getting married, which many deemed to be quite a low blow.
“I need to know, should I get a bridesmaid dress now or not?” Ellen DeGeneres joked, to which JT responded, “Know what? Go ahead and reserve one. The only thing is, you’ll have to stay the same size for the next 15 years.”
Diaz has since moved on with rockstar Benji Madden, whom she has been married to since 2015. The pair welcomed their daughter Raddix Madden in December 2019. Timberlake, on the other hand, has been married to actress Jessica Biel since 2012: they share two children; Silas and Phineas.
Diaz retired from her acting profession in 2014 and has since turned her attention to creating her own lifestyle brand among other exciting investments.
