Britney Spears calls out Ryan Seacrest in her new memoir
Britney Spears slams American Idol host Ryan Seacrest in her new memoir.
The pop singer and former X Factor USA judge is upset over a 2007 interview that she feels accused her of not being a fit parent to her two sons.
“Ryan Seacrest asked me questions like ‘How do you respond to those who criticize you as a mom?’ and ‘Do you feel like you’re doing everything you can for your kids?’ and ‘How often will you see them?’” the singer writes in The Woman in Me, according to Page Six.
She claims that the radio interview “was supposed to be about” promoting her Blackout album. “It felt like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about: whether or not I was a fit mother,” she writes. “Not about how I’d made such a strong album while holding two babies on my hips and being pursued by dozens of dangerous [paparazzi] all day every day.”
So far, Ryan hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
However, although Britney wasn’t happy about the interview, Ryan went on to interview the singer multiple times afterward.
At the time, Britney was involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband Kevin Federline over their children, Sean Preston, now 18, and Jayden, now 17. Eventually Federline was given sole legal and physical custody of the kids in January 2008 after Britney was committed to a psychiatric ward. The following month, the singer was placed under the conservatorship, run by her father who controlled every aspect of her life. The legal arrangement lasted 13 years, until November 2021.
Other bombshells in the book include an abortion, and cheating Justin Timberlake
Why did the singer not fight such an onerous arrangement? She says she “went along” with the conservatorship “for [her] kids.”
“Because I played by the rules, I was reunited with my boys,” she explains. She regained visitation rights in July 2008 and eventually shared 50/50 custody with her ex-husband. Federline obtained 70 percent custody of Preston and Jayden in September 2019 and recently moved the boys to Hawaii with Britney’s consent.
Other bombshells to emerge from the memoir: Britney became pregnant while dating ‘Nsync’s Justin Timberlake. She says if it were up to only her, she would have had the baby. But Justin didn’t want to be a father. She had a medical abortion at home. She writhed in pain on the bathroom floor, afraid her secret would leak if she went to the hospital.
Also, while Britney admits she cheated on Justin during their relationship, she claims he did too, with a singer that she declined to name.
The book is out now.
