Britney Spears Responds to Critics of Topless Photo in Explicit Fashion on Instagram

Britney Spears is once again using her Instagram account to address her fans directly. On July 7, Spears shared a topless photo, showing off her back with the caption of three ballet slippers. While many fans sounded off in the comment section with statements like “Free Britney” and the pun “Britney’s back,” some claimed that the shot wasn’t of Spears at all. “We know this isn’t you,” one wrote, with another adding, “Yall know this ain’t Britney right??” The back in the photo was free of tattoos, while Spears has a flower fairy tattoo on her lower back and a neck tattoo of the Hebrew symbol of healing.”Where are the tattoos?” one commenter asked.

Spears decided to address the haters in a new post on Thursday, July 8. “Ok so … I edited out my tattoo on my neck cause I wanted to see what it would look like clean [three shrug emojis] … and yeah I like it better so while you guys are talking behind my back go ahead and kiss my a– hater.” Fans in her comments still didn’t believe that the initial photo was of Spears, and many took this aggressive response as proof that Spears was no longer handling her account.

Spears previously used her Instagram to address paparazzi hounding her during her trip to Maui after her bombshell conservatorship testimony. “So being here in Maui is pretty crazy now,” Spears wrote. “The paps know where I am and it’s really not fun !!!! It’s pretty hard going anywhere cause these silly faces keep popping up to take my picture… but not only do they take my picture … they distort my body and mess with the image and it’s embarrassing !!!!! I know my body is not perfect but I definitely do NOT look like how they portray me. It’s rude and it’s mean so paps kindly F— YOU AND F— OFF.”

Spears also took to Instagram to set the record straight over her current condition, admitting that the happy face that she had put on for years on social media was a facade. “I just want to tell you guys a little secret,” Spears began. “I believe as people we all want the fairy tale life and by the way, I’ve posted … my life seems to look and be pretty amazing … I think that’s what we all strive for !!!! That was one of my mother’s best traits … no matter how s— a day was when I was younger … for the sake of me and my siblings she always pretended like everything was ok.”

“I’m bringing this to peoples attention because I don’t want people to think my life is perfect because IT’S DEFINITELY NOT AT ALL,” Spears wrote. “If you have read anything about me in the news this week… you obviously really know now it’s not !!!! I apologize for pretending like I’ve been ok the past two years … I did it because of my pride and I was embarrassed to share what happened to me … but honestly who doesn’t want to capture there Instagram in a fun light!!!! Believe it or not, pretending that I’m ok has actually helped … so I decided to post this quote today because by golly if you’re going through hell … I feel like Instagram has helped me have a cool outlet to share my presence … existence … and to simply feel like I matter despite what I was going through and hey it worked … so I’ve decided to start reading more fairy tales.”