Spears' quote came amid her ongoing feud with her ex, Kevin Federline, over their two teenage sons.
Jennifer Lopez needed just one word and an emoji to reveal exactly how she felt about being quoted by Britney Spears in a since-deleted Instagram post.
The "Toxic" singer took to the social media platform on Friday and posted a throwback photo of her and Marry Me star at the 2001 MTV VMAs with a caption that touched on being equal and independent. Spears started her caption, "In a world where you have the right to use your feet 🦶… heart ❤️ … mouth 👄 … eyes 👀 … and body… to express yourself however you may 😁 !!! Declaration of INDEPENDENCE … for equality and to be equal 🤝 !!! Not even touching, covering, and holding me against my will for 4 months !!!"
She then added, "As Jennifer Lopez once said 'You look right down that camera and tell every little girl in the world to get loud and never ever back down to giving light to injustice ' ☺️ !!! I’m here to share that freedom is a state of mind !!! GOD BLESS U ALL❤️❤️❤️ Psss I shot this today !!!"
According to Page Six, J Lo was apparently moved by the gesture, so much so she dropped three heart emojis in Spears' comments section. And Lopez took it a step further when re-posted Spears' post on her Instagram Story, accompanied by the word "stay" and the strong arm emoji. For good measure, Lopez also added sparks and a couple of heart drawings.
It's unclear why Spears deleted the post, but it came amid her ongoing feud with ex-husband Kevin Federline, who recently posted -- and then deleted -- videos of the pop star reprimanding her sons, Sean, 16, and Jayden, 15, when they were 11 and 12 years, respectively. Shortly after, Spears' attorney, Mathew Rosengart, issued a statement to ET on her behalf.
"Britney Spears is a brilliantly-talented, extremely-hardworking icon, who is rightfully beloved and respected by millions around the world. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about Mr. Federline, who for reasons that are inexplicable, decided to give a gratuitous interview that has hurt the mother of his children," Rosengart's statement began.
"Britney has faithfully supported her children and she loves them dearly. Whether he realizes it or not, Mr. Federline has not only violated the privacy and dignity of the mother of his children, he has undermined his own children, whose privacy he should protect," he continued. "Putting aside his ITV interview, Mr. Federline’s ill-advised decision to post an old video of his 11 and 12 year old children was cruel, bottom of the barrel stuff. In addition to demeaning himself and violating societal norms, he has now also created various legal issues for himself including, but not limited to, implicating cyber-harassment and cyber-bullying statutes, among other things."
Rosengart concluded, "It has been my honor to work with Britney, to suspend her father as conservator, to help her gain her freedom and dignity and to help protect her from the type of bullying she has endured in the past—and we will not tolerate bullying in any area. We are working with Instagram to ensure that Mr. Federline adheres to its rules and we are exploring all appropriate relief against him. In the meantime, as Britney herself poignantly said, whatever is occurring between her and her boys should remain private. We urge Mr. Federline to act with a measure of grace and decency and to cease from publicly discussing private matters, which benefits no one."
Also this week, Spears spoke candidly about her sons no longer visiting her. In a lengthy statement, Spears shared the reason she thinks drove her kids away.
Spears said she would lead her kids in "devotion" when they would visit, "where you read two or three pages in a prayer book and talk about it." She said she always "TRIED and TRIED, and maybe that's why they stopped coming here!!!"
“I wanted them to love me so much that I might have overdone it!!!" the singer added.
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