Britney Spears has attempted to clarify comments she made about Christina Aguilera’s backup dancers that were criticised for being fatphobic.
In a recent Instagram post, the 'Toxic' hitmaker shared a photo of a Rodney Dangerfield quote that read: “I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people.”
In an accompanying caption, Spears added: “If I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small.”
Fans were quick to point out that Spears’ comments were not OK and accused her of fat-shaming, with the star now responding that she would ‘never intentionally body shame anybody’.
She explained: "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 !!!
"By no means did I even mention Christina, look at my post !!! I was inspired by her show and she is a beautiful woman of power … Thank you @xtina for inspiring me !!!
"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 …"
Her response continued: "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 !!!" [sic]
The hit-maker’s statement was praised by some fans, with one person responding: “Love the transparency.”
Another added: “And this is how a true Queen speaks,” while a third said: “Don’t worry, Britney. Your true fans know you didn’t mean any harm in that post.”
Other comments included: “Yes Britney! Spread the love!”, “We get it B, love ya” and “We got you.”
However, not all of Spears’ 42 million Instagram followers were convinced, with another social media user penning: “This wasn’t written by her. This is her PR team doing damage control. Look at the difference in the writing from her day to day posts.”
“Perhaps an apology to the back up dancers... #justathought,” noted someone else, while another person wrote in part: “Think there is some definite, unintentional shaming in that post, in particular referencing Christina’s backup dancers to make others appear thin. Thinness doesn’t equal beauty, that’s just a harmful notion in general.”
Tyla has approached Spears’ representative for comment.
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