Britney Spears’ Boyfriend Sam Asghari Allegedly Posts Photo of Engagement Ring, Later Claims Hack

Britney Spears’ longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari appeared to post a photo of an engagement ring on his Instagram page. Asghari, who began dating Spears after they met on the set of her “Slumber Party” music video in 2016, later claimed he was hacked and asked fans to “calm down.” The post came amid rumors that Asghari is “desperate” to get engaged to Spears now that it appears her conservatorship may be ending soon.

Asghari – or whoever commandeered his Instagram page – allegedly posted a photo of an engagement ring held by a jeweler’s tool to show off the diamond, reports The Blast. The photo showed the word “lioness,” which Asghari uses as a nickname for Spears, etched into the inside of the ring. Since Asghari was reportedly seen looking at engagement rings in Los Angeles recently, some thought the photo was genuine.

However, Asghari said it was not real. “Account got hacked and was photoshopped – calm down everyone,” he wrote in an Instagram Story post Friday evening. Hours before posting that statement, he celebrated Spears winning Time Magazine‘s Time100 Reader Poll. “That’s what you call a fan base,” he wrote, adding a link to Time.

Spears is still under a conservatorship established in 2008, and she has claimed it has kept her from marrying and having a family. However, last month, her father, Jamie Spears filed documents announcing plans to step down. His lawyer claimed there were “no actual grounds” for removing him from the position of overseeing Spears’ estate, but he decided to do so because of public “attacks” and his daughter’s ongoing efforts to removing him. Jamie “intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator,” his lawyer wrote at the time.

On Tuesday, TMZ reported that Jamie formally asked the judge in the case to end the conservatorship completely. His lawyer argued that the judge’s previous decision to allow Spears to hire her own attorney was evidence that the court itself believes she is capable of overseeing her own estate. “In so doing [allowing her to hire a lawyer], this Court has recognized that Ms. Spears has both the capacity and capability to identify, engage, and instruct counsel of her own choice, on her own, without the assistance of the Conservator or the Court,” the documents read. “If Ms. Spears has the capability to engage counsel on her own, she presumably has capacity to handle other contractual and business matters.” Jamie’s documents also state that Jodi Montgomery, the conservator of Spears’ personal care, could be discharged as well.

A source later told Entertainment Tonight that Asghari is itching to get engaged to Spears now that light is appearing at the end of the tunnel. “All of their dreams for their relationship have been on pause due to the conservatorship,” the source said earlier this week. “They haven’t been able to progress like a normal adult couple. It’s like dating in high school. That’s been their experience for the last two years or so.”