Jamie Lynn Spears has made it clear that there’s no bond like a sister bond. The younger sister of Britney Spears isn’t happy with speculation that she doesn’t support the pop princess amid her conservatorship battle and the #FreeBritney movement.
The “Toxic” singer’s sibling was born in 1991 and it didn’t take long for her to follow in Britney’s footsteps, portraying the younger version of her character Lucy in the 2002 movie Crossroads.
“I love my little sister and I am overprotective with her, and I don’t mind saying that,” Britney told Real Access at the time. “My sister is a handful. We are so different. It’s so funny — actually, she would be a lot better in this business than I am. Like her personality, she is Miss Diva. She is so full of herself, it’s so cute.”
As Britney’s career continued to skyrocket, Jamie Lynn became a star in her own right, appearing on Nickelodeon’s sketch series All That and later landing the starring role in Zoey 101.
“Having Britney as an example was crucial for me,” Jamie Lynn told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020. “Not only did my sister build me up, but she made me feel like I was the star when she was clearly the star. Britney was always really open and honest with me about the good and the bad that comes with this industry. And that’s what gave me the confidence to say no sometimes.”
By 2007, the sisters were both making headlines for personal reasons, with Jamie Lynn announcing she was pregnant at 16 years old. Britney, meanwhile, was placed under a conservatorship by dad Jamie Spears in 2008 following a public meltdown and a stint in a psychiatric ward. After making a career comeback, Britney announced plans to postpone and later cancel her second Las Vegas residency in 2019. She subsequently checked into treatment at a mental health facility.
Speculation about Britney continued to make headlines when she petitioned to make changes to her long-running conservatorship. One day before a July 2020 hearing, Jamie Lynn fired back at trolls who accused her of not caring about her sister’s mental health.
“You have no right to assume anything about my sister,” she replied via Instagram. “And I have no right to speak about HER health and personal matters. … She is a strong, badass, unstoppable woman, and that’s the only thing that is OBVIOUS.”
As the #FreeBritney moment gained more attention and Britney asked the court to remove her father from her conservatorship, Lance Bass revealed he checked in with Jamie Lynn for an update on the musician.
“I have talked to Jamie Lynn recently, which is why I feel so much better about this situation,” the ‘Nsync boybander told Entertainment Tonight in September 2020. “The one thing that I do know is, I know Jamie Lynn — if Jamie is OK with everything going on, I feel like she really has her sister’s back during all this. So I trust her to give us the real information.”
Several months later, Britney addressed the court for the first time in June 2021 and made several bombshell claims about the “abusive” conservatorship, revealing that she felt “enslaved” to dad Jamie, has been medicated against her will and is unable to have children because she is not allowed to remove her IUD.
“It’s enough and it makes no sense at all,” Britney said in court. “I’m done. I want to sue my family, to be totally honest with you.”
As social media users called on Jamie Lynn to speak out, she broke her silence in an emotional video via Instagram.
”I think it’s extremely clear that since the day I was born I’ve only loved and adored and supported my sister. I mean, this is my freaking big sister before any of this bulls—t,” Jamie Lynn began. “I don’t care if she wants to run away to the rainforest and have a zillion babies in the middle of nowhere, or if she wants to come back and dominate the world the way she has so many times before. I have nothing to gain or lose either way. This situation does not affect me because I am only her sister who is only concerned about her happiness.”
She continued: “Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to with a hashtag on a public platform, but I can assure you I’ve supported my sister long before there was a hashtag. And I’ll support her long after. Note that.”
Scroll through for a timeline of Britney and Jamie Lynn’s relationship through the years: