- Britney Spears called Christina Aguilera "a beautiful woman of power" after being accused of body shaming her.
- Spears said her controversial Instagram post was a projection of her own "insecurities."
Britney Spears called Christina Aguilera a "beautiful woman of power" in an Instagram post on Tuesday after being accused of body shaming the "Genie in a Bottle" singer and her dancers in an earlier Instagram post.
"By no means was I being critical of Christina's beautiful body, it is what it is !!!," Spears wrote in the follow-up post on Tuesday. Spears went on to say that her earlier post wasn't meant to criticize anyone, but was a "projection of the insecurities" she has about herself because of how she said she's been treated by her parents and the media for much of her life.
Spears' first post on Tuesday featured a picture of a quote she attributed to Rodney Dangerfield that read: "I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people."
In the caption of the first post, Spears wrote: "I wish I could have chosen the nannies for my children … my dancers … I mean if I had Christina Aguilera's dancers I would have looked extremely small."
"Don't you think my confidence would have been a bit better if I could choose where I lived, ate, whom I called on the phone, dated and who was on stage with me !!!" she continued, adding that her "womanhood was stripped away" from her in the past and no one around her spoke up to try and help her have any control.
Spears was seemingly referring to the control she was under during her 13-year conservatorship, which ended in November 2021.
Spears' post quickly received backlash from many people on social media, who said Spears was body shaming Aguilera and her dancers. Aguilera even appeared to unfollow Spears on Instagram after the post, Entertainment Weekly reported.
A representative for Aguilera didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Plus-size model and body positivity activist Natalie Hage commented on Spears' initial post, telling Spears her message was "far from cool."
"This ain't it," wrote Julie Murphy, the author of the YA novel "Dumplin'" that inspired the Jennifer Aniston movie of the same name about a plus-size teenage girl who signs up for a beauty pageant as a form of protest.
In her second post, Spears said she didn't "even mention Christina."
"I was inspired by her show and she is a beautiful woman of power," Spears continued, saying that she only meant to point out the "difference of our people on stage."
"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," the "Lucky" singer continued. "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."
Spears ended the second post's caption by thanking her followers for their "understanding" as she continues to try to navigate her "new life."