Britney Spears has launched an attack on the paparazzi, claiming that they edited pictures of the pop star to make her look 40 pounds heavier.
Photos of Spears alongside her boyfriend Sam Asghari emerged online last weekend, but the 37-year-old was unhappy with them: she took to Instagram to address the photos, and shine a light on what she described as a "conspiracy theory".
"A lot of fans, in our world today, they always are subject to really criticize people and say that the pictures and videos that they’re posting are either not on time or they’re fake," Britney Spears began in her video. "But no one ever really asks, 'Are the paparazzi pictures fake, and do the paparazzi people do stuff to the pictures, and is the news really real?' It’s a conspiracy theory that I’m actually interested in."
Here's Britney Spears addressing the photos of herself on Instagram:
"Yesterday, I went swimming. I look like I’m 40 pounds bigger than I am today," continued Spears. "This is how I am right now, and I’m skinny as a needle. You tell me, what is real?"
Meanwhile, MEGA - the photo organisation that took the pictures - have flat out denied that they edited Britney's photos, saying they think Britney "looks great". "We think Britney looks great and it’s ludicrous to suggest the photos or video were altered in any way,” said a rep for the company.
"They were not. We shot thousands of photos of her over the weekend and are very happy to let her see the original files if she so wishes. It was good to see her happy and having fun and we wish her well."
Britney Spears has slammed her internet "bullies" after being trolled for her swimsuit pictures on Instagram.
Recently, the 38-year-old has posted a number of pictures of herself in a white bathing suit to the social media platform. In many of them, she poses with boyfriend Sam Asghari, 26.
Britney shows off her toned body in a steamy yoga video:
However, trolls took umbrage with the number of posts the Toxic hitmaker posted, claiming that they all looked the same, and others claimed that the 38-year-old's boyfriend was only dating her for her money.
Britney captioned the post: "I've read a lot of things online of people criticizing my posts …. saying I post the same 15 pictures with the same red background and wearing the same white bathing suit.
This coffee machine went viral for sounding like Britney:
The singer continued: "For me I get really excited about my posts …. and I like to share them with you all !!!! I've never owned a white bathing suit before and I simply liked the red background !!!! [sic].''
"Reading all of the mean comments really hurts my feelings …. and I wanted to share because you really shouldn't be saying all of these mean things to someone you don't even know .… this goes for bullying anyone really !!!!!! [sic]"
In response to Britney's decision to hit back at her haters, fans flooded the comments section of the post with support.
One wrote: "You are amazing!!! Beautiful special gal! Don’t even listen to haters!! People are always going to hate/ jealously."
Britney Spears has taken to Instagram to say she wants fans to see the real her, and has shared photos to show the difference between "Instagram versus reality".
The 38-year-old pop star posted several pictures of herself wearing glasses, a checked shirt, and jeans, and said she often feels "insecure" when photos are taken of her without feeling prepared.
"Instagram versus Reality!!!! I wanted to show you what I really look like on a daily basis," Spears captioned the post. "I can get insecure when photos are taken of me that I'm not prepared for… so I have always put so much effort into my appearance."
She continued by saying that "sometimes it's nice to not try so hard and pull down your walls every now and then… It takes a lot of strength to do that."
The singer then added a "fun fact" about herself, revealing that instead of cheerleading, she played basketball when she was at school. The Toxic star said she was the point guard and "called the shots" but "dear God we sucked… we only won 3 games each season."
And many of Britney's 26.5 million followers adored the candid and relaxed snaps:
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
However, other Instagram users were left concerned for the singer, and took to the comments section to voice their worries:
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
This comes after Spears was proffered support by the American Civil Liberties Union after a court ruled that her father Jamie Spears remains the sole conservator of her estate.
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Fans have speculated that Britney may be suffering due to the conservatorship she has been under for the past 12 years. She was first placed under a conservatorship by her father back in 2008 after suffering a series of mental breakdowns, which necessitated medical intervention.
The hashtag "#FreeBritney" has subsequently been making the rounds on social media.
The singer has had much of her personal affairs – including her finances, mental health, and music career – controlled by legal guardians (largely her father, Jamie Spears) under the terms of the conservatorship.
Now, the ACLU has publicly reached out to the singer. "The ACLU has since publicly reached out to Britney after the non-profit organization tweeted: “People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights. If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her," they wrote.
The organization then proceeded to share an article published on aclu.org, titled “How Conservatorship Threatens Britney Spears’ Civil Rights."
Conservatorship "is the court weighing into the person’s life and saying you, as a person with a disability, are no longer able to make decisions about yourself and livelihood – such as where you live, and how you support and feed yourself – and we are putting someone else in charge of making those decisions. Because it’s such an extreme step to take, it’s really supposed to be a last resort," Zoe Brennan-Krohn, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Disability Rights Project, wrote in the article.
"We don’t know if Britney Spears identifies herself as a person with disabilities, or what, if any, diagnoses she has received,” Brennan-Krohn added.
"But by virtue of being under a conservatorship, we know that the court has determined that she is disabled, and has stripped away her civil rights because of that disability. So it’s inherently a civil rights/civil liberties issue," she continued.
"What we don’t know is what the info the court had, what Britney has said about what she wants specifically, what other options have been tried, or what her lawyers have said," she added.
"So while it’s possible that this is an example of a thoughtful conservatorship that was implemented as the last resort and is being reviewed carefully, thoroughly, and regularly, that is not the norm for conservatorships, and it appears inconsistent with what we see of Britney publicly."
Britney Spears has taken to Instagram to call out body improvement specialists — and fans are praising her for spreading the word of body positivity.
Spears took to Instagram today (October 15) to share a topless picture of herself, and the caption was nothing short of empowering. "What is it with consultations for body improvements," she questioned, before revealing that she has previously felt hurt by such experiences.
"Is it me or is anybody else offended by these experiences … maybe I’m extremely sensitive … either way I would rather fall off a cliff than have a doctor tell me what he thinks is wrong with my body image … lesson learned!!!! Psss kiss my white ass [sic]," the 39-year-old added.
"Too many people are getting way too much work done and are setting the wrong standard for young women. You don't have to have plastic surgery to be beautiful. Filters don't exist in real life. You go girl," wrote one fan, while another praised, "Britney is taking her power back and I love to see it."
A third wrote: "Don't change a thing [...] You look amazing" — and we agree!
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
This comes after a judge suspended Spears' father, Jamie, from her 13-year-conservatorship — which she denounced as "abusive" back in June.
On September 30, Judge Brenda Penny said that Spears' involvement with the legal arrangement was "toxic" and "untenable", and ordered him to be removed.
Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
Her father's attorney, Vivian Thoreen, issued a statement following the news, stating that it was "disappointing" and a "loss for Britney."
"Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney’s estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer," Thoreen said, per The Guardian.
“It was Mr Spears who took the initiative to file the petition to terminate the conservatorship when neither Britney’s former court-appointed counsel nor her new privately retained attorney would do so," it continued. "It was Mr Spears who asked the court at yesterday’s hearing to immediately terminate the conservatorship while Britney’s own attorney argued against it. Despite the suspension, Mr Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters."
The next step in the Toxic singer's ongoing conservatorship battles comes on November 12, when a hearing will discuss the complete termination of the conservatorship. On July 14, Spears was allowed to appoint her own lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, who has maintained that her father's removal is necessary for the pop star's wellbeing. At the hearing, Rosengart asserted that it was the first step towards ending a "Kafkaesque nightmare."
He added that Spears "has been abused by this man not only for the past decade, but since her childhood."
Those of you who happen to follow pop megastar Britney Spears will know that she's no stranger to posting topless pictures and videos of herself.
In fact, last Thursday, the 40-year-old 'Toxic' hitmaker sparked backlash among some of her fans when she uploaded 10 topless posts - nine pictures and one video - all within the span of an hour.
While in a London hotel room, she stripped down to nothing but a pair of black and blue leopard print underwear and staged her very own private photo shoot. Taking to Instagram, she then posted nine photos and a video of her lying in bed topless.
Some of Spears' followers felt her incessant skin-baring posts were distasteful and decided to call her out for it.
One fan took to Twitter to write: "I can't believe I am saying this but @britneyspears STOP being Naked on Instagram, please. #BritneySpears."
Another added: "Sadly had to unfollow britney spears on insta cause i would open the app in public and her naked pics would just pop up."
A third penned: "I’m going to say this, I really really really love that Britney Spears is able to express herself now that she has this freedom that she has but I am so tired of seeing her naked on my Instagram timeline…#NoShade."
Spears' penchant for provocative snaps may be turning some of her fans off, but it turns out that she has a good reason for posting photos of that nature to her Instagram platform.
Last year, the Crossroads star took to the photo-sharing app and told her followers in a since-deleted post that she wants to be able to express herself on her own terms after years of feeling "too self conscious about my body."
Britney stated: "I’ve had a billion shows where I’ve done that and to my horror uhhh well … sometimes I didn’t look so great … TOO MANY TIMES and it’s embarrassing as f*** but in my imagination it felt great!!!!
"I mean I don’t want anybody to see the big dimple on my a** but I feel like performing made me too self-conscious about my body and that’s not attractive. [sic]"
She continued: "I was born into this world naked and I honestly feel like the weight of the would has been on my shoulders and it’s made me view myself that way !!!! I wanted to see myself in a lighter way … naked.
"I am a woman …. a beautiful … sensitive woman who needs to look at myself in my purest form !!! No … I’m not going to do topless pics for the rest of my life cause that would get boring but it sure as hell helps when you need to be enlightened. [sic]"
Britney Spears, who has become decidedly more vocal about her mental health and overall wellbeing in recent months, is now opening up about the loneliness she sometimes experience due to the abundance of "fake" people in her life.
The 37-year-old also drew attention to the often vitriolic abuse she sees in the comment sections of her posts.
Remember when Britney Spears took to Instagram to address rumours about her weight?
Taking to Instagram, the Oops... I did It Again singer shared an image with the words "Pay close attention to the people who don't clap when you win" written on it.
She captioned the post:
"Living in LA is such a trip !!! It can be lonely at times. You never know who to trust, and some people can be fake. I have a very small circle of friends, and simply do what makes me happy !!! It breaks my heart to see the comments on my posts sometimes .... so I simply choose not to look anymore ... let the clever haters do what they do best .... hate!!!"
Of course, Britney's many devoted followers took to the comments to shower their idol with love and support.
"Have you ever met a hater doing better than you? Me neither," wrote one fan.
"Disable the comments Britney," another chimed in "They aren’t worth it."
"They are more people out there who love you than hate you and there are many positive comments in your posts," wrote a third. "But I understand wheee you are coming from. Do what makes you happy."
Britney Spears tells her fans "all is well" in this video message posted to Instagram:
Amongst those sharing their support for the sentiments expressed by Britney was her 25-year-old boyfriend, Sam Asghari.
"Winners don’t hate or bully, losers (haters) only do because they don’t have what you have (which is the best heart in the world)," he wrote alongside a heart emoji.
Last year, the model and personal trainer told Men's Health:
"She motivates me more than anyone. It's crazy how I can be humbled by a person like her. If I could be that humble when I'm that high in life, that would be the best thing. I grew up with three sisters, and my personality is just to be a supportive person for my family and she's family. I'm always going to support her. She is another blessing that happened to me."
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