Britney Spears Slams Diane Sawyer for Making Her Cry During Infamous Interview
Britney Spears has held little back in her posts on social media since being freed from her conservatorship. Most recently the Princess of Pop hopped on Instagram to take Diane Sawyer to task (and to tell the journalist to kiss her "white a--") for their infamous 2003 interview.
Spears sat down to speak with the ABC journalist following her breakup with Justin Timberlake — which brutally played out in the press and was dramatized by the release of "Cry Me a River." The conversation turned emotional several times, and the then-21-year-old hit-maker appeared uncomfortable and deeply saddened.
You can revisit the conversation below.
On Monday (Dec. 13), Spears reflected on her feelings about the moment in a since-deleted post on Instagram. She opened up in a lengthy Notes app message that was preserved by People.
"Do we dare forget the Diane Sawyer interview in my apartment almost 20 years ago," she asked. "What was with the 'You're in the wrong' approach?? Geeze... and making me cry???"
The "Toxic" siren also put her former manager Larry Rudolph on blast for setting the interview up.
"My manager put that woman in my home and made me talk to her on national television," she revealed. She added that her father and three other men (it is unclear if one of those was Rudolph) arrived at her apartment when she was in the midst of dealing with the breakup. Based on her description, it's fair to assume their presence did not make things better.
"Something I never shared when I had that break up years ago was that I couldn't talk afterward," she explained. "I was in shock... pretty lame of my dad and three men to show up at my door when I could hardly speak... two days later they put Diane Sawyer in my living room... they forced me to talk!"
"I was a baby," she added. "I was almost 22 and didn't understand."
Spears turned her attention back to Sawyer and referenced one of the questions she was asked during the interview: "She said 'a woman or a girl' ... I would like to say now, 'Ma'am I'm a catholic slut!!!" That would have been an iconic answer then. It certainly is one now."
"Mr. Spears has no idea what Ms. Spears is talking about. Jamie never set up any interview with Diane Sawyer and was not present for any such interview," he wrote. "He had nothing to do with Britney's career at this point and was completely uninvolved in this interview. Jamie loves Britney very much, wishes Britney nothing but the best and hopes that she continues to seek the help that she needs to stay safe and healthy."
Sawyer has not responded to the message at the time of publication.
The interview became a topic of public discussion again in 2021 after it was featured in the New York Times' documentary Framing Britney Spears earlier this year.
Glamour pointed out that the full interview was actually even worse than what was included in the documentary, and at the time fans demanded an apology from Sawyer, according to Business Insider.