What was supposed to be an interview about her album instead became a parenting critique. Photo / AP
What was supposed to be an interview about her album instead became a parenting critique. Photo / AP
Britney Spears hates Ryan Seacrest for pushing her to talk about her parenting.
The …Baby One More Time singer, 41, who has sons Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden James, 17, with her ex-husband Kevin Federline, 45, said the host, 48, was meant to chat to her about her Blackout albumwhen he had her on one of his radio shows, but instead started to grill her over whether she was a “fit parent” to her boys.
She fumes in her newly released memoir The Woman in Me: “Ryan Seacrest asked me questions like, ‘How do you respond to those who criticise 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?’”
Adding the chat “was supposed to be about” her critically acclaimed 2007 Blackout album, she went on: “It felt like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about: whether or not I was a fit mother.”
“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.”
Despite her distaste over the interview, Spears agreed to be interviewed again several times by Seacrest.
At the time, the performer was engaged in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband Federline over their sons.
The DJ and former backing dancer was given sole legal and physical custody of the children in January 2008 after Spears was committed to a psychiatric ward.
Spears adds in her book she initially “went along” with her controversial conservatorship for her children.
Kevin Federline and Britney Spears during Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri's Grammy's after-party. Photo / Getty Images
She said about the “one reason” she signed up for the deal: “I did it for my kids.”
Spears’ conservatorship, imposed by a California judge, lasted 13 years and was only legally ended in 2022.
She added in her book: “Because I played by the rules, I was reunited with my boys.”
Britney Spears adds the conservatorship made her lose all control over her life, as Jamie handled everything from her diet and hairstyle to her career and more.
She said: “Even though I begged the court to appoint literally anyone else – and I mean, anyone off the street would have been better – my father was given the job.”
