On Friday night, Britney Spears celebrated her 41st birthday by shouting out her 31-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn Spears. This was a bit surprising to her Instagram followers, because Britney has been publicly feuding with her estranged sister, and accusing her of being complicit in Britney’s conservatorship up until its end.
“It’s my b-day but you’re my heart so I’m thinking about you,” the pop icon wrote, sharing two shots of Jamie Lynn. In one of them she is strumming a guitar and in the other she is seated at a table looking over her shoulder.
Britney continued, “Congratulations on being so brave, inspiring, and showing guts and glory in your show !!!. You ain’t alone … if anybody knows what that feels like … I get it. My baby sister !!! I love you !!!”
This year, Jamie Lynn released her memoir Things I Should Have Said, and in return, she received a cease and desist letter from Britney’s attorney. The letter claimed Jamie Lynn was releasing her book opportunistically to coincide with the end of Britney’s conservatorship and a renewed interest in the family. It stated the book was full of “misleading or outrageous claims.”
“Although Britney has not read and does not intend to read your book, she and millions of her fans were shocked to see how you have exploited her for monetary gain. She will not tolerate it, nor should she,” wrote Mathew S. Rosengart, Britney’s attorney.
The younger sister’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded with their own letter. It called out the hate Jamie Lynn has received online from Britney’s fans since the star began targeting her.
“As you know from previous social media posts, Jamie Lynn has had her children violently threatened, and we have no doubt that these new intimidating and threatening social media posts will lead to similar threats of violence,” the response letter read. “To be clear, social media posts that include cyber bull[y]ing which cause death threats to Jamie Lynn and her family, is neither the ‘high road,’ nor anything that will be tolerated.”
That did not settle matters. Britney used her Instagram platform to call her sister “scum,” and added that she “should have slapped” her “selfish little brat” sister and their mother, Lynne. That post has since been deleted.
Jamie Lynn has said on Instagram that she and Britney communicate very differently in private, writing, “Brit, I am always here for you, you know behind the scenes I have always been here. It’s become exhausting when conversations and texts we have in private don’t match what you post on social media.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.