Britney Spears has had an interesting several days on social media - following the backlash from her body-shaming post this week, the 'Toxic' singer has received support from her fans after uploading a video of herself crying while dancing.
The 40-year-old has become somewhat of a cultural icon in recent years, as her 42 million followers seem to love her energetic improvised dance videos. This week, however, fans got a little more than they bargained for when Spears burst into tears halfway through her routine.
Posting the clip to her Instagram page, Spears captioned it: "It's been a while since I've cried on camera !!! It's not a breakdown a**holes, it's a release that I’ve needed for a very long time now !!! Spiritual experience for sure !!! I think I need to do that way more !!! Psss… bawling."
Many of her followers - including her new husband, Sam Asghari - sent messages of support, while others appeared to express concerns about her mental health.
"Awww babe," one person wrote, "There are so many of us here that support you in whatever you need to do for your journey! We can't even fathom what it must feel like to be trapped for over 13 years. You have come leaps and bounds! We adore you."
"If we don't release our tears they build up and are stored as pain. I am in awe of how you process your emotions so gracefully," another commented.
Spears' husband, Sam Asghari also posted a message of support to his new bride, saying: "Vulnerability=strength=lioness."
Though, not all comments offered support - many users seemed to be worried about the singer's mental health, with one user commenting: "Looks like a cry for help....."
"I'm not perfect. And I'm a big fan of Britney… But watching this with no audio actually made me shiver. It's not the first time, but, goodness gracious… if you love this woman stop encouraging this behavior. We need a new movement. This woman needs help before it's too late [sic]," someone else wrote.
"Try watching this video without audio, the range of emotions in 1 minute is seriously scaring me," said another person, while someone else chimed in with: "All these videos are so bizarre! You can't blame people for being concerned."
The post came mere hours after Spears wished her sons - Jayden James, 16, and Sean Preston, 17 - a happy birthday in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Her two sons, who she shares with her ex Kevin Federline, have not seen their mother in months after saying they were embarrassed by her constant social media posts in the wake of her terminated conservatorship.
As previously reported, Jayden joined his father - who received roughly $1 million after his divorce from Spears and continues to receive more than $20,000 a month in alimony from her, per Newsweek - in a TV interview to discuss his severely fractured relationship with his mother.
Jayden also defended his grandfather, Jamie Spears, who controlled Britney as her conservator for 13 years - controlling every aspect of his daughter's financial and medial affairs. "They are not bad people. They know what we are going through now. They want our future to be what we want it to be. They just want to watch over us," Jayden stated in his interview.
He also added that his mother's risqué uploads on Instagram bothered him, saying: "It's almost like she has to post something on Instagram to get some attention. This has gone on for years and years and years, and there's a high chance that this will never stop, but I'm hoping for me that she will stop."
Following the interview, which was aired on ITV in the UK, Spears maintained that she did the best she could as a mother to her sons, despite being limited by her conservatorship.
In since-deleted audio messages, the 'Circus' singer said she feels she has "no purpose anymore," amid the damaged relationship she has with her sons.
While Spears has become the butt of harmless jokes about her improvised dancing and lengthy captions on social media, we have to explore the wider picture.
The media failed Britney for over a decade - we are to blame for allowing the constant hate and misogynistic vitriol that was directed at the mom-of-two for years. Now, we have to ask ourselves the question: how will we prevent this from happening again?
