On the music scene right now, there are a number of female artists that could be considered 2019's queen of pop. Ariana Grande has a pretty solid following at the moment, as do Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Katy Perry is still quite high up there on the rankings, too, and she's certainly had enough hits over the years to earn her place in the musical hall of fame.

But before any of those artists found true success in their solo careers (and almost before Ari was even born), there was only one true female icon that we all looked up to: Britney Spears.

Back in her heyday, the ...Baby One More Time artist was churning out hit after hit, and we all danced along to them while wearing double denim and sporting really bad haircuts. And it was amazing. Then, as the years went on, she continued to have outstanding success with tracks such as Piece of Me and Gimme More. Sure, she had her rough spot in the mid-late 2000s - but you know what? She came back and she gave us Work Bitch and I defy anyone reading this right now to tell me that it is not an absolute anthem for the ages.

Basically, Britney is something of a pop goddess to people of a certain age. So, when people like Katy Perry come along and throw shade at her, people get mad.

On Friday, Perry posted an excerpt of a Q&A session with her producer, Greg Wells. During the interview, Wells said that people "think [Perry] is handed a script like a Britney Spears and told what to sing. It's the exact opposite," obviously implying that Britney doesn't really have any initiative of her own. 

"She is telling people like me or [producer] Max Martin what to do," Wells said. "She tells her management who will direct her video and she tells her label what he first single will be. She drives it. She's been like that since the first album."

Wells saying this was bad enough, but when Perry posted it to her Insta with a big ol' heart drawn around it, some Britney fans felt that she had crossed a line.

Soooooo, this happened:

"Why does Katy perry constantly throw shade at queen Britney when Brit has been NOTHING but nice and supportive to her. Karma is a bitch. Have fun on idol," wrote one person.

"Katy is so salty. Actually whole team is," said another. "People who have followed Britney’s career for a while now know that Brit actually takes time for each album. She creates the vibe of it and then does songs that SHE WANTS. It started with Britney album. People are just so disrespectful."

Ok, I think we get the picture: Perry's manager was being super shady when he name-dropped Britney in order to build up Perry, but Perry was even shadier when she then put that quote out to her millions of followers. Still, the whole thing sort of bit her in the butt and made her look a little stupid - so who's the real winner here?

(It's Britney, obviously. Always was, always will be.)

On the music scene right now, there are a number of female artists that could be considered 2019's queen of pop. Ariana Grande has a pretty solid following at the moment, as do Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Katy Perry is still quite high up there on the rankings, too, and she's certainly had enough hits over the years to earn her place in the musical hall of fame.

But before any of those artists found true success in their solo careers (and almost before Ari was even born), there was only one true female icon that we all looked up to: Britney Spears.

Back in her heyday, the ...Baby One More Time artist was churning out hit after hit, and we all danced along to them while wearing double denim and sporting really bad haircuts. And it was amazing. Then, as the years went on, she continued to have outstanding success with tracks such as Piece of Me and Gimme More. Sure, she had her rough spot in the mid-late 2000s - but you know what? She came back and she gave us Work Bitch and I defy anyone reading this right now to tell me that it is not an absolute anthem for the ages.

Basically, Britney is something of a pop goddess to people of a certain age. So, when people like Katy Perry come along and throw shade at her, people get mad.

On Friday, Perry posted an excerpt of a Q&A session with her producer, Greg Wells. During the interview, Wells said that people "think [Perry] is handed a script like a Britney Spears and told what to sing. It's the exact opposite," obviously implying that Britney doesn't really have any initiative of her own. 

"She is telling people like me or [producer] Max Martin what to do," Wells said. "She tells her management who will direct her video and she tells her label what he first single will be. She drives it. She's been like that since the first album."

Wells saying this was bad enough, but when Perry posted it to her Insta with a big ol' heart drawn around it, some Britney fans felt that she had crossed a line.

Soooooo, this happened:

"Why does Katy perry constantly throw shade at queen Britney when Brit has been NOTHING but nice and supportive to her. Karma is a bitch. Have fun on idol," wrote one person.

"Katy is so salty. Actually whole team is," said another. "People who have followed Britney’s career for a while now know that Brit actually takes time for each album. She creates the vibe of it and then does songs that SHE WANTS. It started with Britney album. People are just so disrespectful."

Ok, I think we get the picture: Perry's manager was being super shady when he name-dropped Britney in order to build up Perry, but Perry was even shadier when she then put that quote out to her millions of followers. Still, the whole thing sort of bit her in the butt and made her look a little stupid - so who's the real winner here?

(It's Britney, obviously. Always was, always will be.)