Britney Spears responds to ‘body-shaming’ accusations after controversial post aimed at Christina Aguilera

Britney Spears has addressed the backlash she received after she seemingly “body-shamed” Christina Aguilera and her backup dancers in an Instagram post.

On Monday, the “Toxic” singer made a controversial comment about surrounding herself with “fat people” to feel thin, and made a reference to Aguilera’s backup dancers.

“I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small… I mean why not talk about it ??” she wrote, in an apparent dig at the “Beautiful” singer’s body. Spears immediately received criticism from fans, who told the performer to “calm down” and to “delete” her post.

Following the backlash, she clarified in an Instagram post on Tuesday that her original comments were “a projection of the insecurities” she deals with on a daily basis.

“By no means was I being critical of Christina’s beautiful body, it is what it is !!!” Spears began the caption. “I flew to see her show once and the main thing I noticed was the difference of our people on stage !!!”

Spears also thanked Aguilera for “inspiring” her, and described the Burlesque star as “a beautiful woman of power.”

“To be honest, I’m not trying to be critical of anybody,” she continued. “What I posted is a projection of the insecurities I deal with all the time as a result of how my parents and the media have treated me.”

“I would never intentionally body shame anybody because I know what it feels like…I struggle with this because of how I feel about myself, not because I hate how anybody looks…I feel like my family knew I was insecure and people were trying to purposefully feed into this insecurity by not letting me have a choice in the people who were on stage with me.”

She added: “I appreciate you all being understanding with me as I figure out this new life I’m living !!!”

Shortly after the alleged social media snub, Aguilera unfollowed her former Mickey Mouse Club co-star on Instagram, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Spears’ comments come after the 40-year-old singer recently revealed she was “traumatised for life” and will likely be unable to perform live shows again following the end of her 13-year conservatorship. In the since-deleted post, Spears also said she did not have any creative control over her music at that time, and the only visual she liked was the one for her 2013 single “Work B****”.

“I’m pretty traumatised for life and yes I’m pissed as f*** and no I won’t probably perform again just because I’m stubborn and I will make my point,” she wrote, before ending her message with “kiss my god damn motherf***ing a**.”