Britney Spears Shot This Memorable Music Video After Justin Timberlake Split With Her via Text

Breakups are never easy — especially when you have to shoot a full-on music video right afterwards.

According Chris Applebaum, who directed Britney Spears in her 2001 music video "Overprotected," the performer got a breakup text from Justin Timberlake while she was on set.

"I walk into her trailer, and Britney's not dressed for the next scene," Applebaum recalled in Thursday's Impact x Nightline episode. "She's not ready, her hair and makeup isn't ready. She's still in a Juicy Couture sweatsuit, and I could immediately tell something was wrong."

He continued, "I asked her if everything was OK, and she said, 'No, things are not OK because look,' and she held out her flip phone, and I saw this text which said, 'It's over,' which was from her boyfriend at the time, Justin Timberlake."

Spears, who dated Timberlake from 1999 to 2002, was faced with two options — call it a day or push through shooting the video.

"It seemed like that was the end of the video shoot, and I acknowledged that with everybody," Applebaum said. "But, on the other hand, if you feel like you wanna get out there and show him that he just lost the best thing that he ever had, let's do it. Ten to 15 minutes later, she came out, and she was on fire. This was the Britney that everybody knows and loves."

"Overprotected" ended up nabbing a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and landed in the Billboard Hot 100.

Impact x Nightline, which explores Spears' career and impact, is streaming on Hulu now.