Siblings fight, make up and then fight again — that’s true of any family. Yet one subplot of Britney Spears’ legal battle to end her 13-year conservatorship this year has been the seeming dissolution of her relationship with younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears, with seemingly little indication of reconciliation arriving anytime soon.
The tension hasn’t always been there: Britney helped Jamie Lynn land her first acting gig, penned the theme song to her sister’s Zoey 101 sitcom, and was singing alongside her on her 2013 album, Britney Jean. In the wake of a series of explosive court hearings, however, there have been emotional videos, catty captions and even dueling emojis suggesting a fracture in their relationship. As Britney continues to call out her family and the part certain members played in her conservatorship, the forthcoming publication of Jamie Lynn’s autobiography, Things I Should Have Said, may very well add fuel to the fire.
What happened to Britney and Jamie Lynn’s close bond — and when did it start to break? We chart the ups and downs of their public relationship below.
February 2002
A 10-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears makes her acting debut in Britney’s 2002 film, Crossroads. She plays a younger version of her big sister’s character, Lucy Wagner.
January 2005
Jamie Lynn becomes a presence on Nickelodeon thanks to a role on sketch comedy All That. The network then greenlights her own show, Zoey 101, which boasts a theme song, “Follow Me,” penned by Britney. The sitcom is an instant ratings success.
December 2007
A 16-year-old Jamie Lynn announces that she’s pregnant in OK! Magazine. Britney learns the news from the paparazzi; in her upcoming autobiography (more about that later), Jamie Lynn says her parents forbade her from telling Britney.
February 2008
After a series of mental health issues, Britney father, James P. “Jamie” Spears, places her under a temporary conservatorship; later that year, it becomes permanent.
July 2013
After giving birth, Jamie Lynn retreats to Liberty, Miss. with then-fiancée Casey Aldridge. When the engagement is called off, she moves to Nashville to pursue a country music career. Her next public interaction with Britney comes via her daughter, Maddie, who appears in the superstar’s “Ooh La La” video alongside cousins Sean and Jayden.
December 2013
After Jamie Lynn self-releases a country single, “How Could I Want More,” which peaks at No. 29 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, she makes a cameo on Britney’s Britney Jean album, duetting with her sister on “Chillin’ With You.”
March 2016
Britney makes a rare public appearance to introduce her younger sister’s debut appearance at famed country music venue the Grand Ole Opry. Britney also shares a cute selfie with her sister on Instagram.
June 2016
Jamie Lynn releases her second, and currently most recent, single, “Sleepover,” and Britney promotes the song on her Instagram. Shortly thereafter, Jamie Lynn decides to pursue acting instead.
October 2016
Britney fires up her Instagram to celebrate Jamie Lynn winning an NSAI songwriting award for penning Jana Kramer’s top 10 Country Songs hit “I Got The Boy.”
January 2017
The Spears sisters appear to be on great terms as Jamie Lynn makes regular appearances on Britney’s Instagram. In one post, Britney writes, “When I’m with my sister she makes my stomach hurt so bad from laughing!” In another, she jokes about Jamie Lynn joining hitmaking vocal group Fifth Harmony.
March 2017
Britney celebrates Jamie Lynn hosting a NASCAR race, and also promotes her baby sister’s nearly year-old single “Sleepover” in a post for International Women’s Day.
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April 2017
The first inkling of disquiet between the siblings occurs at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards, where Britney is awarded the first Icon Award. She is serenaded by Kelsea Ballerini, Sofia Carson, Hailee Steinfeld and Jamie Lynn, who performs a snippet of “Till The World Ends.” Audience footage shows Britney’s startled expression, and she later brings up this performance in an explosive 2021 Instagram post.
April 2019
Jamie Lynn lashes out about the “Free Britney” movement, who have asked her to be more vocal on her sister’s behalf. “10 years ago, who was there?” she captions a video shielding Britney from paparazzi. “I have been here long before anyone else and I’ll be here long after. I love my sister with everything I have. So anyone or anything that speaks to the contrary can GTFOH with all the comments about what you don’t understand.”
August 2020
The Los Angeles Times reports that Jamie Lynn is a trustee of part of Britney’s estate. She later denies being “on the payroll.”
November 2020
With a Zoey 101 reboot in the works, Jamie Lynn releases a new version of “Follow Me” — the show’s original theme song, penned by Britney.
June 24, 2021
Britney’s explosive conservatorship hearing is held in Los Angeles. It’s the first time the world has heard the pop icon speak publicly on the matter. She is particularly critical of her family. “Anyone involved in this conservatorship, and my management who played a huge role in punishing me [should] be in jail,” she says. “And I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you.”
June 28, 2021
Jamie Lynn breaks her silence in an Instagram story. “I felt like until my sister was able to speak for herself and say what she felt she needed to say publicly, that it wasn’t my place and it wasn’t the right thing to do,” she says through tears. “But now that she’s very clearly spoken and said what she needed to say, I can follow her lead.” Jamie Lynn reiterates that she has always been there for Britney, claiming to have “only loved and adored and supported” her big sister. Jamie Lynn’s post is not well-received by Britney fans.
July 8, 2021
Jamie Lynn fires up Instagram again to reiterate that she’s not “on the payroll” and goes as far as describing herself as “broke.” Three days later, she shares a photo of a box of toys that Britney sent her children, suggesting good terms.
July 16, 2021
Britney writes, “There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support,” in a now-deleted Instagram. “How dare the people you love the most say anything at all … did they even put a hand out to even lift me up at the TIME !!!??? How dare you make it public that NOW you CARE … did you put your hand out when I was drowning ????”
July 17, 2021
The pop icon brings up that 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards performance. “I don’t like that my sister showed up at an awards show and performed MY SONGS to remixes !!!!!” Britney captions an Instagram post. “My so-called support system hurt me deeply !!!! This conservatorship killed my dreams.”
July 19, 2021
Jamie Lynn captions a selfie with “May the peace of the Lord be with you, and your spirit.” It turns out Britney wasn’t particularly receptive to the message, and replies with one of her own: “May the Lord wrap your mean ass up in joy today.”
September 29, 2021
Britney’s father is suspended from his role in her conservatorship after 13 years, and Britney celebrates on Instagram by posting a snap from the cockpit of a plane. The caption includes the sentence, “Pssss bringing the ship home, JL,” which many fans interpreted as a jab at Jamie Lynn — a few days earlier, Jamie Lynn had posted a photo of her daughter’s softball team with the caption “took home the ‘ship.” A ship emoji is present in both posts.
October 11, 2021
Jamie Lynn faces the wrath of Britney fans again when it is revealed that her autobiography is called I Must Confess — seemingly a reference to the chorus to her sister’s debut smash, “…Baby One More Time.” The title is promptly changed to Things I Should Have Said, and her publisher issues an apology. “We deeply regret that incorrect and incomplete information about her book has appeared in the public space, particularly at this sensitive time for Jamie Lynn and her family,” Worthy Publishing states.
October 12, 2021
Britney catches wind of the title kerfuffle and references it in an Instagram post. “Psssssss also great news,” she writes. “I’m thinking of releasing a book next year but I’m having issues coming up with a title so maybe my fans could help !!!! Option #1… ‘S–t, I really don’t know’ Option #2 … ‘I really care what people think’ !!!!” What do you guys think ????”
October 25, 2021
“I don’t mind being alone … and actually I’m tired of being this understanding Mother Teresa,” Britney captions an Instagram post. “If you’re rude to me then I’m done.” She then makes it crystal clear who she’s referring to. “This message is to my family… for hurting me deeper than you’ll ever know !!! I know the conservatorship is about to be over but I still want justice !!!”
November 9, 2021
In an excerpt published by People, Jamie Lynn recalls her family wanting to keep her teenage pregnancy under lock and key: “They went so far as hiding my pregnancy from my sister, claiming, ‘It’s too risky to tell Britney about the baby.’ I needed her more than ever and she wasn’t able help me in my most vulnerable time.”
November 12, 2021
A Los Angeles judge formally terminates Britney’s 13-year conservatorship.
January 11, 2022
After news drops that Jamie Lynn will appear in her first TV interview promoting her memoir, Britney seemingly teases she is writing a memoir of her own. She captions an Instagram post of a typewriter, “Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???”
January 12, 2022
Jamie Lynn opens up about the public rift on Good Morning America. “I’ve only ever loved and supported her and done what’s right by her, and she knows that, so I don’t know why we’re in this position right now,” she explains. She also says she was “happy” when the conservatorship ended and never had an interest in being a part of it.
The wide-ranging interview with ABC News continues later that night on Nightline, where Jamie Lynn claims that their years of a low-simmering tension boiled over amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalls a moment when “Britney came at me screaming and getting up in my face” as she held her toddler daughter Ivy. According to Jamie Lynn, instead of respecting their daughter’s wishes, their parents reverted back to “unhealthy patterns” by telling her “that I shouldn’t be upset, like, I can’t upset Britney. I said, ‘You just saw me and my children be upset. When will I matter?’”
January 13, 2022
Britney took to Twitter to share her reaction to Jamie Lynn’s interview, wroting in a series of screenshots from her notes app that she “looked at my phone and I see that my sister did her interview to promote her book […] lol and it was actually kind of nice having a fever so high cause I had to surrender to not caring.”
“She was never around me much 15 years ago at that time,” Britney said of Jamie Lynn’s recollection of the time period. “So why are they even talking about that unless she wants to sell a book at my expense [thinking face and book emoji] ??? REALLY ???”
She also mentioned when Jamie Lynn performed a medley of remixed Britney songs at the 2017 Radio Disney Awards. “I know it may sound like a silly thing to most people but I wrote a lot of my songs and my sister was the baby,” she wrote. “She never had to work for anything. Everything was always given to her !!!!”
Britney revealed that she did talk to her sister, asking why she agreed to the performance when she “knew I was waiting to change my show,” to which Jamie Lynn replied, “Well, it wasn’t my idea.”
“Hope your book does well, Jamie Lynn !!!!” Britney wrote, before announcing that she will be taking a break from Instagram. “The media, this business has always been extremely hateful to me. I’ve given enough … MORE than enough. I was never given back ever what I want,” she wrote.
https://twitter.com/britneyspears/status/1481768609684738048January 13, 2022
Jamie Lynn took to Instagram to post a lengthy, impassioned statement reacting to Britney’s earlier Twitter thread. Jamie Lynn wished her sister well but accused her of saying one thing in private and another on social media. “The things being said are absolutely not the truth,” Jamie Lynn wrote, additionally claiming that her “family continues to get death threats, as a result of [Britney Spears’] vague and accusatory posts.”
“That being said, I hate to burst my sister’s bubble, but my book is not about her,” she continued. “I can’t help that I was born a Spears too, and that some of my experiences involve my sister. I’ve worked hard since before I was even a teenager, and I’ve built my career in spite of just being someone’s little sister.”
She concluded, “There are no sides, and I don’t want drama, but I’m speaking my truth to heal my trauma, so I can close this chapter and move forward, and I wish my sister could do the same. No matter what comes, I will always love my big sister, and be here for her. It’s time to put an end to the unhealthy chaos that has controlled my life for so long.”
January 14, 2022
Britney once more shot back at Jamie Lynn on Twitter, starting off with a “congrats babe” to her younger sister, adding, “You’ve stooped to a whole new level of LOW.”
The “Stronger” singer then refuted a memory Jamie Lynn wrote about in her memoir, in which the former Zoey 101 star claimed Britney, feeling scared, took a knife and locked herself and Jamie Lynn in a room. “The only knife I ever saw you with at home was cutting the biggest pieces of squash I ever saw in my life and it was way too big for me to cut,” Britney wrote. “So please please stop with these crazy lies for the Hollywood books !!!”
Britney continued, “NOW and only NOW I do know only a scum person would make up such things about someone …. I’m actually very confused about you making that up because it’s honestly not like you at all !!!!”
https://twitter.com/britneyspears/status/1482077703259914240January 15, 2022
On Twitter, Britney publicly expressed to Jamie Lynn that she thinks their public arguments have been “tacky” — but said she still loves her.
“All I know is I love you unconditionally !!! So go ahead and say whatever you want … it’s so tacky for a family to fight publicly like this !!! You say you love me … yet your loyalty is still with the people that hurt me most !!!” Britney wrote.
Throughout her lengthy note, Britney said she was hurt by her little sister when she needed support throughout her 13-year legal conservatorship. “What Dad did to me, they don’t even do that to criminals … so for you to sit back and act completely aloof to what has happened to me is honestly insane to me !!!” she said to Jamie Lynn.
But she added, “Say whatever you want to say just know I do know your real heart more than anyone !!! It’s your life and you deserve a beautiful life !!!! I wish I would be able to do what you’re doing and do interviews !!! I’m scared of all of it … I admire you for being strong … just know I love you and I think you know that already more than anything !!!”
By Saturday evening, Jamie Lynn had posted a response to Britney’s new message: “Britney,” she wrote in an Instagram Story, “Just call me.”
“I have attempted many times to speak to you directly and handle this privately like sisters should, but you still choose to do everything on a public platform,” Jamie Lynn claimed. “In the meantime, please stop continuing the narrative that I haven’t been there for you or that I’m making things up. I’m happy to share how many times I’ve reached out to you, supported you and tried to help you. This is embarrassing and has to stop. love you.”
January 17, 2022
Jamie Lynn continued the roll-out of her memoir, Things I Should Have Said, with an appearance on Spotify’s Call her Daddy podcast in which she described to host Alex Cooper what it felt like growing up in the considerable shadow of her more-famous older sister.
“I always felt like an afterthought, I literally was, I just learned to stay out of the way,” Jamie Lynn told Cooper about the conflicted feelings she had as a first grader watching sister blow up into a worldwide superstar. “I was so proud of her, I was like I know how hard she worked and I admired her, and it was so cool I got to witness the coolest things watching her live out her dreams. So for me it was like stay out of the way and let this experience happen because this was the goal everyone wanted and they got it so I just need to not mess anything up for anybody.”
In another segment sure to further stir the pot, Jamie Lynn described to Cooper what it felt like to watch Britney’s famously messy 2002 break-up with Justin Timberlake, describing how shocked she was when the two pop idols split. “I think everyone thought it was forever… I was so sad first off because my sister was so sad, but that too was the first time I saw maybe I didn’t know everything about the relationship,” Jamie Lynn said.
“I truly do not know [why they broke up]… I thought how heartbreaking it must have been for my sister when [Timberlake’s] ‘Cry Me a River’ came out don’t get me wrong, like that’s a way to launch your solo career right? That’s a way to do it, but I felt really sad and my sister she wrote that song ‘Everytime’ and she’s beyond brilliant with anything creative and she picked that song out on the piano and she wrote it and it still makes me cry because I think about how heartbroken she was because that was her song and that was his song. It still breaks my heart to think about that.“
Jamie Lynn noted that Britney’s legendarily intense work ethic has been “nothing but an inspiration to me” and that she truly does not feel jealous of Brit’s success. “I got to experience watching a woman take over the f—ing world. How can I be jealous of that?” she said.
January 17, 2022
Britney’s attorney, Matthew Rosengart, sent a letter to Jamie Lynn referencing the media tour for her memoir, Things I Should Have Said, asking her to “cease and desist from referencing Britney derogatorily during your promotional campaign.”
“We write with some hesitation because the last thing Britney wants is to bring more attention to your ill-timed book and its misleading or outrageous claims about her,” reads a copy of the letter from Rosengart obtained by Billboard. “Although Britney has not read and does not intend to read your book, she and millions of her fans were shocked to see how you have exploited her for monetary gain. She will not tolerate it, nor should she.”
“You of all people know the abuse and wrongdoing Britney had to endure during the conservatorship, after initially growing up with a ‘ruinous,’ alcoholic father. In fact, your own book reportedly states that your father ‘spent most of my life in that cycle of ruinous behavior. His bouts of drinking caused me periods of torment and sorrow,’” Rosengart’s letter continues. “As I have previously stated, having endured a 13-year conservatorship that stripped her of civil rights and fundamental liberties, Britney will no longer be bullied by her father or anyone else.”
In the letter, Rosengart concluded, “Britney was the family’s breadwinner and she also otherwise supported you. Publicly airing false or fantastical grievances is wrong, especially when designed to sell books. It is also potentially unlawful and defamatory.”
January 19, 2022
The “Piece of Me” pop star took to Instagram to repost her since-deleted rant in which she recalled going home following her public split from Justin Timberlake in 2002 to find her sister living a much more relaxed lifestyle than she did growing up. “I had worked my whole life and I didn’t know how to be served by Mamma … Sit there and get served the chocolate milkshakes with the perfectly crushed ice with the secret chunky sugar meanwhile Jamie Lynn is 12, she indulges with the TV for hours then goes to lay out on a raft at the pool … I’m in shock because this was never my life !!!!” she wrote.
She ended her message with direct message to her sister: “I’m sorry Jamie Lynn, I wasn’t strong enough to do what should have been done … slapped you and Mamma right across your f–king faces !!!!!”
On Wednesday (Jan. 19), she added more to her thought. “And WHY do I say that ???? You selfish little brat !!!” she wrote. “Saying how weird and dumb it was that I bought a house for Mamma !!!! She was so proud and you told that interview girl that it was just weird …. LIKE I GUESS I WILL JUST WALK IN THESE HALLS … Why did you say that ???”
Britney also claimed that Jamie Lynn was “f—ing hateful” to their mother, Lynne Spears. “She worshipped you too much but I know if you came out of my stomach I would have popped the s— out of your little a– …” she wrote.
The pop star concluded her lengthy message by refuting Jamie Lynn’s recollection of Britney and Timberlake’s split. “You felt bad for me in the breakup … HELL NO you didn’t !!!” Britney wrote. “You and your friends all dyed your hair like Christina Aguilera and you no longer would play with me anymore !!!! I NEVER shut you out ever.”
Britney concluded by writing, “You can paint it however you like but dear child …. YOU shut me out when I needed you the most !!!! Writing in your book saying I wasn’t like your mom anymore … No, you hurt me.”
See Britney’s full post here.
January 20, 2022
The second part of Jamie Lynn’s Call Her Daddy interview is released, in which the actress clarifies that she had no role in Britney’s conservatorship. “Outside of the conservatorship, my sister asked me to oversee a trust if something were to happen to her,” she told Alex Cooper. “Now, when I was approached by her team of lawyers or whatever, they were like ‘You need to get a lawyer’ and I did not even follow through with these steps to be a trustee over her will or anything, and that never even had anything to do with the conservatorship.”
Jamie Lynn went on to read a lengthy text she sent to both her sister and the pop star’s fiancé Sam Asghari on November 11, 2020, which you can read in full here. In the texts, she mentions how she doesn’t trust Britney’s former lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III, who was in “constant contact” with the siblings’ mother and her respective legal team. She also mentioned how their father wants to resign as conservatorship of her estate, but wants to talk to Britney directly.
Jamie Lynn said that Britney and Asghari did not reply to the text.
December 2, 2022
Britney raised eyebrows among her fans when she posted a loving tribute to Jamie Lynn, with whom she’s been in a public war of words for a year. The Instagram post, shared on Britney’s 41st birthday, included two pics of Jamie Lynn — one of her holding a guitar and one of her posing in a kitchen — and gave photo credit to the younger Spears sister in the caption.
“It’s my b-day but you’re my heart so I’m thinking about you,” the caption reads. “Congratulations on being so brave, inspiring, and showing guts and glory in your show !!! You ain’t alone … if anybody knows what that feels like … I get it. My baby sister !!! I love you !!!”
The show the caption is likely referencing is the celebrity reality competition series Special Forces: The Ultimate Test, which premieres on Fox in January and features the younger Spears and other familiar faces competing in the same challenges used in the military’s special forces selection process.
Britney’s fans aren’t convinced that the new Instagram post signals a truce for the feuding siblings. In fact, they’re more convinced that the elder Spears isn’t in charge of her own Instagram account. Billboard reached out to a rep for Britney to confirm that the pop star was behind the new post.