'Crossroads' director Tamra Davis cautions against criticizing Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's abortion decision: 'Men should have a choice too'

• "Crossroads" director Tamra Davis said Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears shouldn't be judged for Spears' abortion.
• Spears revealed she had an abortion while dating Timberlake in her upcoming memoir.

In a recent interview with Insider ahead of the re-release of her 2002 film "Crossroads" to theaters, director Tamra Davis defended the film's star Britney Spears and her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, whom she dated from 1999 to 2002.

Davis shot the coming-of-age film, which starred Spears, Taryn Manning, and Zoe Saldana, in the spring of 2001, so she spent a lot of time with the couple.

Earlier this week, Spears revealed that she had an abortion while dating Timberlake.

"A, I'm glad they had a choice, whatever, and B, sometimes you realize it's not just the girls' choice and men should have a choice too, and that's something that's super important," Davis said. "It's very important that people make decisions like this together and it's a joint decision, and they were in love."

"These two were madly in love. I saw them, I spent so much time with them. They were an incredible couple," she continued. "I don't think they were 21 yet. So let's be really careful about how we criticize."

In an excerpt of Spears' memoir "The Woman in Me" published by People ahead of its October 24 release, Spears said of the pregnancy: "It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn't a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I'd anticipated. But Justin definitely wasn't happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren't ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young."

Of the decision to terminate, she wrote: "I'm sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby. I don't know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn't want to be a father."

"To this day, it's one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life," Spears continued.

Davis told Insider that Spears' revelation is an example of choices women have to make "all the time" and said that she's proud of the message in "Crossroads" — that "it's important not to stay silent because we really need our friends to go through these situations together."

The director, who's also responsible for fan-favorite films like "Billy Madison" — said she's watched many celebrities get taken down by public scrutiny.

"We need to support our artists and be very careful with how we speak about people, because these are humans," she said.

Davis added that while she isn't directly in touch with Spears at the moment, she believes in the singer and would "do anything for her."

You can purchase tickets to a "Crossroads" Global Fan Event here.