DR. PHIL McGRAW is speaking out to ET over the recent flap stemming from his meeting with BRITNEY SPEARS, who was hospitalized for observation last weekend after a standoff with ex KEVIN FEDERLINE, in which she refused to hand over custody of their two boys.

A source close to the Spears family told ET that the embattled pop star's parents urged Dr. Phil to visit their daughter while she was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last Saturday, and that it was the pop star's family's idea to appear on McGraw's show to discuss Britney's downward spiral. It was later mutually decided to postpone the show.

Dr. Phil tells ET: "There's been no betrayal of Britney; I have all the respect in the world for her. I may be the one person in the media that's never said a negative word about that girl, or her family for that matter. My visit to her was private. It was intended to be private from the beginning.

"There's some spokesperson that's been out there talking to the contrary," he adds, "and I'm just sitting here saying I know the truth and so does everybody in the Spears camp. I just figure this will work itself like everything else does. Right now people need to be focusing on Britney, not on me, so am I glad they stepped up and told the truth about everything? Sure."

The same source close to the Spears family tells ET that Britney found Dr. Phil to be "really cool" and even took his number and said she'd like to call him in the future.