Britney Spears has addressed the backlash she received after seemingly “body-shaming” Christina Aguilera and her backing dancers in an Instagram post.
Shortly after Spears posted her comments on Monday, a source told Entertainment Weekly that Aguilera unfollowed her on the social media platform.
In the Toxic singe’s controversial post she wrote about wanting to be surrounded by “fat people” in order to feel thin, before making reference to Aguilera’s backing dancers.
Her alleged dig read: “I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small… I mean why not talk about it ??”
Immediately after sharing her thoughts, the Lucky songstress was urged to “delete” her post as she received a wave of criticism from fans.
Following the controversy, Spears clarified her comments in an Instagram post on Tuesday and claimed that her sentiments were “a projection of the insecurities” she deals with on a daily basis.
She began: “By no means was I being critical of Christina’s beautiful body, it is what it is !!! I flew to see her show once and the main thing I noticed was the difference of our people on stage !!!”
Spears also thanked her former Mickey Mouse Club co-star for “inspiring” her and branded Aguilera “a beautiful woman of power.”
Continuing her post, she wrote: “To be honest, I’m not trying to be critical of anybody. What I posted is a projection of the insecurities I deal with all the time as a result of how my parents and the media have treated me.
“I would never intentionally body shame anybody because I know what it feels like…I struggle with this because of how I feel about myself, not because I hate how anybody looks…
“I feel like my family knew I was insecure and people were trying to purposefully feed into this insecurity by not letting me have a choice in the people who were on stage with me.
“I appreciate you all being understanding with me as I figure out this new life I’m living !!!”
Spears’ Instagram posts come almost a year after she faulted Aguilera for “refusing to speak” when asked if she had any contact with the star following the termination of her conservatorship in November.
At the time, the Circus singer posted a clip of Aguilera’s red carpet interview at the Latin Grammys to her Instagram Story and penned: “I love and adore everyone who supported me… but refusing to speak when you know the truth, is equivalent to a lie!”
Two months later after the apparenty red carpet snub, the Beauitful singer told Enrique Santos that she “would love to [speak with Spears].
“I would always be open to that. It’s a subject that I definitely want to be careful of because I never want to speak out of [turn] about somebody that I have so much respect and admiration for.”
The Evening Standard has contacted Christina Aguilera’s rep for comment.
