What’s going on between Britney Spears and Halsey? The two pop stars have been making waves over the music video for Halsey’s new song “Lucky,” which samples Britney’s iconic track of the same name.
The 29-year-old “Without Me” hitmaker dropped their single on Friday (July 26), and fans quickly noticed that its chorus is heavily inspired by Britney’s song. The accompanying music video also draws significant parallels to the original. While Halsey has said that they had Britney’s blessing for the sample, it appears that Britney was not pleased with the visual representation.
Britney took to social media to express her frustration in a heated message. “For obvious reasons I’m very upset about the Halsey video,” Britney wrote in a message shared on X (formerly Twitter). “I feel harassed, violated, and bullied. I didn’t know an artist like her and someone I looked up to and admired would illustrate me in such an ignorant way by tailoring me as a superficial pop star with no heart or concern at all.”
She went on, writing, “I have my own health problems, which is why I took down my IG account yesterday. I will definitely be putting it up to show I CARE. I’m speaking with my lawyers today to see what can be done on this matter. It feels illegal and downright cruel.”
However, shortly afterwards, Britney took down her original post and shared a follow-up, walking back on her scathing statement and claiming she didn’t post it. “Fake news!!! That was not me on my phone!!! I love Halsey and that’s why I deleted it 🌹!!!” she wrote in a follow-up post on Twitter/X. This post also addressed her own health problems, which led to her taking down her Instagram account, and she mentioned she would reinstate it.
Despite the initial controversy, it seems Halsey has nothing but love for Britney Spears. The 29-year-old singer proved there’s no bad blood between the pair after the recent drama. Halsey responded to Britney’s latest post, saying, “And I love Britney!!!! I always have and always will 💕 you were the first person who ever made me realize what it means to feel inspired. And you continue to inspire me every day,” Halsey wrote while quoting Britney’s post.
Previously, when asked about Britney’s reaction to the song, Halsey replied to a fan, saying, “I wrote her the longest, sappiest, stan letter of all time and she was soooo nice.”
Of the music video, Halsey took to Instagram upon its release and wrote: “The Lucky music video is out, and it’s a lot of feelings happening over here. It was really challenging to incorporate so many conflicting emotions in just a few minutes. This campaign has been fun because I WANT to have fun, but I made a lot of this art when I was suffering. I have so many people to thank for being a part of this monumental moment in my life. From the bottom of my heart thank you @giancarla.coppola, Pascale, and @simonrex415 and my entire team for making it happen. ⭐️”
The back-and-forth between these two artists has certainly caught the attention of fans and the media alike. While it initially seemed like there might be some serious tension, both have shown that they have respect and admiration for each other.
