Britney Spears on Madonna Mentoring Her in Private

[Future Lovers 6,903]

Madonna’s name is mentioned a whopping 17 times throughout The Woman in Me. As a young girl, Spears idolized the star—and wanted to be like her. Once Spears was on the awards show circuit, she started running into Madonna “all over the world.” 

Later, when Spears decamped in Cher’s old NoHo apartment, Madonna dropped by for a visit. “She walked into the place and immediately, of course, she owned the room. I remember thinking, it’s Madonna’s room now,” Spears writes.

In Madonna, Spears found a mentor. “Madonna’s supreme confidence helped me see a lot about my situation with fresh eyes. I think she probably had some intuitive sense of what I was going through. I needed a little guidance at that time,” she writes. Madonna performed a red-string ceremony with Spears to initiate her into Kabbalah; she also gifted Spears a “trunk full” of Zohar books.

It was while rehearsing for the VMAs that Spears had the idea to feature Madonna on Me Against the Music, her latest single at the time. She approached Madonna directly with the request, and the rest was history.

Spears’ admiration for Madonna, and her “supreme confidence,” is made clear. “If I could go back now, I would try to become my own parent, my own partner, my own advocate—the way I knew Madonna did,” she reflects. During their Me Against the Music shoot, Spears was in awe of how Madonna refused to compromise her artistic vision and integrity. “It was an important lesson for me,” Spears writes. “One that would take me a long time to absorb: she demanded power, and so she got power.”

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[MaybeKermit 4,898]

Queens for real

[Ultimecia 6,050]

Warms my heart.

[Gagaism 11,699]

A beautiful friendship story for sure 

[Ghost Face 6,236]

Nice to read all of this.

Tho it's sad that Madge refused to show this love and energy towards Gaga back in the days.

[Abramovic 1,652]

38 minutes ago, Ghost Face said:

Nice to read all of this.

Tho it's sad that Madge refused to show this love and energy towards Gaga back in the days.

Let’s be honest. Gaga was too talented and too confident about her artistic vision. I think Madonna saw nothing else then concurrence in her. Too many similarities that Madonna didn’t like to be compared to. 

[Future Lovers 6,903]

8 hours ago, Ghost Face said:

 

Tho it's sad that Madge refused to show this love and energy towards Gaga back in the days.

It's sad that people can't stans on from this when the two women in question did a long, long time ago. Besides, it's quite evident they both played into that feud for PR gain. I don't doubt there was some tension, but it's quite evident they both kept milking it for as much as they could get out of it. I mean making an entire SNL skit and then including quotable sound bites about it in Gaga's documentary? It's pretty obvious how much of that was for conversation piece fuel.

[Kirby Ghosty 279]

I bet the conservatorship tried so hard to keep Madonna’s independent influence away from Britney. That’s why Britney didn’t get to see Madonna as much as she wanted, but Madonna being so powerful was able to push aside those leaches for those few moments they did meet. 
 

ugh I love this Legendary Friendship 

[StrawberryBlond 14,829]

As nice as this all sounds, I hate to burst the bubble but I sometimes think Madonna's fascination with Britney over all the other young females that were big at the time was very telling. Britney was being called the princess of pop, so that suggested she was a direct successor to Madonna's queen of pop title. But Madonna realised that Britney was no threat to her as she was clearly so heavily controlled and wasn't super involved in her own career. Therefore, she was a very safe choice to mentor, there's a lot she could be taught. You'll notice that even though she also did the VMAs performance with Christina, she never attempted to mentor her. Because Christina was too much of a rebel and knew her own mind, therefore, too similar to Madonna and not as easy to mentor. And I think Madonna just jumped at the chance to be in Me Against The Music because it was a collab with one of the biggest names of the moment and this was the point in her career where she became focused on associating with current names to be considered cool by association. If she was so close to Britney and understood her, then why did she collab with her ex, Justin, on 4 Minutes? She was also on Letterman and referenced how she gave him her underwear years ago and said "maybe you could send them to Britney." And I can't remember where she said it or why, but she once said that Britney was "built like a brick sh*thouse." It was in that moment that I questioned Madonna's involvement in Britney's life. It just screamed "PR relationship" but sadly, I don't think Britney was so vulnerable and in need of a support network that she couldn't see that. When was the last time she was involved in Britney's life? Years ago. She certainly wasn't at her wedding. I think when Britney's social standing fell, Madonna no longer had interest in her as she couldn't give her anything. 

I know, it's super cynical and I don't want to think this is the case but Madonna has a reputation for using young singers for their cool name and star power in order to get some success and positive association for herself for too long now. I think Britney was just one of the first ones.

On 10/21/2023 at 10:31 AM, Ghost Face said:

Nice to read all of this.

Tho it's sad that Madge refused to show this love and energy towards Gaga back in the days.

And it definitely explains why she never showed love to Gaga. Far too similar, far too talented, far too in control and knew her own mind. I also think she was someone she genuinely saw as a threat and feared she could get on her level one day. I think Gaga realised that too and that's why she gave her a wide berth early on. I'm glad she had the pride not to bow down to the woman who made fun of her on her tour by singing a Express Yourself/BTW mash-up followed by She's Not Me. 

On 10/21/2023 at 7:27 PM, Future Lovers said:

It's sad that people can't stans on from this when the two women in question did a long, long time ago. Besides, it's quite evident they both played into that feud for PR gain. I don't doubt there was some tension, but it's quite evident they both kept milking it for as much as they could get out of it. I mean making an entire SNL skit and then including quotable sound bites about it in Gaga's documentary? It's pretty obvious how much of that was for conversation piece fuel.

Madonna started it and her alone. I really don't think Gaga was getting any fun out of it. I certainly wouldn't have wanted the stress of a legend getting on my case so early in my career when it was already stressful enough. The fact Madonna couldn't respect that or draw parallels to when she was breaking out says a lot. You'll notice Madonna has never been particularly supportive of other females in the industry. She prefers to collab with men and she's said nasty things about other females over the years (and not all of them singers either). She's clearly felt very threatened by other women before, always fearing they'll be as big as her or bigger one day and overthrow her queen of pop title. I know a lot of Gaga fans have moved on from those days but I just can't. Same for M.I.A, Joanna Newsom, Grace Jones and all those other females singers who were clearly jealous of Gaga and couldn't support the sisterhood. 

[monketsharona 80,710]

People still talking about Madonna vs Gaga in 2023 

All I know is that Madonna did Bloody Mary dance; they both followed each other and Gaga's last comment on one Madonna post was 'Love you M !'

Need to move on like they did. 

[Future Lovers 6,903]

1 hour ago, StrawberryBlond said:

1. And I think Madonna just jumped at the chance to be in Me Against The Music because it was a collab with one of the biggest names of the moment and this was the point in her career where she became focused on associating with current names to be considered cool by association.

2. If she was so close to Britney and understood her, then why did she collab with her ex, Justin, on 4 Minutes?

3. It just screamed "PR relationship" but sadly, I don't think Britney was so vulnerable and in need of a support network that she couldn't see that.

4. When was the last time she was involved in Britney's life? Years ago.

5. She certainly wasn't at her wedding. 

1. Who was Madonna associating with that was so young and hip in 2003 other than Britney and Xtina? This was long before the trend chasing years. Music, American Life, and Confessions all three featured absolutely no association with the young and new talent of the day. She performed with Britney and Xtina once and then collabed with Britney at Britney’s request. 

2. In 2008 we had no actual knowledge of how deeply the issue between Justin and Britney went. Britney had also released a song that at the time implied she had cheated on Justin which we now know was not the catalyst but we didn’t then. Clearly Britney didn’t hold it against her regardless seeing as she appeared in a backdrop video for Madonna’s tour AND joined her on stage for that tour. 

3. How is it a PR relationship if the majority of their relationship hasn’t been privy to the public? Almost all of what Britney has mentioned happened privately and was discussed years later. How does that benefit Madonna in the PR department? 

4. Do you even bother researching before you write the essays? She’s been in Britney’s life consistently including recently. She was one of the people who helped get the lawyer who broke the conservatorship on Britney’s case. Britney mentions in the book that some of these visits were in the conservatorship era. Madonna spoke loudly in Britney’s defense when the Free Britney movement got underway, which is where the help with the lawyer came in. And-

5. She literally was at Britney’s wedding:

 

It’s a little wild to assume you know more about the legitimacy and depth of their relationship than Britney herself does. 

[Reject False Icons 4,769]

Ugh it’s so tiring to see this narrative again and again being pushed by the media that Madonna is very maternal with Britney and she’s her mentor and blah blah blah. They did some projects together, she got her in the Kabbalah, when she was on For the record I didn’t see any deep relationship in 13 years she didn’t do much until the end of the conservatorship, it’s okay Madonna was focused in her career she didn’t have to know everything that happened in Britney’s life

Janet is the real deal, she was her childhood idol, Britney carried herself on the stage heavily like Janet, her choreos were very reminiscent of Janet, hell she even dances to her songs on her insta videos to this day, I wasn’t present before Janet’s blacklisting but were they ever compared and put against each other the way Gaga and Madonna were? Was that the cause they never got closer? I know Janet saw her in 2001 and there were good comments from both parts but why there wasn’t more? This is what I want so read from Britney I hope some of Janet is in the books

[StrawberryBlond 14,829]

8 minutes ago, Future Lovers said:

1. Who was Madonna associating with that was so young and hip in 2003 other than Britney and Xtina? This was long before the trend chasing years. Music, American Life, and Confessions all three featured absolutely no association with the young and new talent of the day. She performed with Britney and Xtina once and then collabed with Britney at Britney’s request. 

2. In 2008 we had no actual knowledge of how deeply the issue between Justin and Britney went. Britney had also released a song that at the time implied she had cheated on Justin which we now know was not the catalyst but we didn’t then. Clearly Britney didn’t hold it against her regardless seeing as she appeared in a backdrop video for Madonna’s tour AND joined her on stage for that tour. 

3. How is it a PR relationship if the majority of their relationship hasn’t been privy to the public? Almost all of what Britney has mentioned happened privately and was discussed years later. How does that benefit Madonna in the PR department? 

4. Do you even bother researching before you write the essays? She’s been in Britney’s life consistently including recently. She was one of the people who helped get the lawyer who broke the conservatorship on Britney’s case. And-

5. She literally was at Britney’s wedding:

 

It’s a little wild to assume you know more about the legitimacy and depth of their relationship than Britney herself does. 

1. That was my point, Britney was the start of her associating with young stars for clout. It started slow at first and got more obvious as time went on. Madonna probably realised how much she benefitted from associating with Britney and tried to do it again.

2. But it's still a bit odd, don't you think, to collab with a friend's ex, regardless of how amicable it is? Madonna's choice to work with him at the time was obvious - it was at the peak of his career, as was Timbaland. Any personal stigma connected with these people didn't matter to her.

3. Anyone can send someone a trunk of books. It doesn't take much effort. From what Britney's described, I'm not seeing anything truly deep or involved true 'mentorship.' It's not like Britney's output changed or talent increased or she got more control over her career since Madonna started mentoring her. I'm just struggling to see how Britney's changed since this supposed mentorship. Being a friend is different from mentoring.

4. I never heard it said that she was at her wedding. I got that wrong, I'll admit. Sometimes, you don't research something because you don't think it needs to be.

You've written just as much an essay as I have and are known for it like I am. I think it's plain to see that I'll never be truly convinced of Madonna's intentions. The more I look into her and all the things she's said about people and the way she conducts herself in interviews tells me a lot about her character and it's not positive. 

[Future Lovers 6,903]

5 hours ago, Reject False Icons said:

Ugh it’s so tiring to see this narrative again and again being pushed by the media that Madonna is very maternal with Britney and she’s her mentor and blah blah blah. They did some projects together, she got her in the Kabbalah, when she was on For the record I didn’t see any deep relationship in 13 years she didn’t do much until the end of the conservatorship, it’s okay Madonna was focused in her career she didn’t have to know everything that happened in Britney’s life

Janet is the real deal, she was her childhood idol, Britney carried herself on the stage heavily like Janet, her choreos were very reminiscent of Janet, hell she even dances to her songs on her insta videos to this day, I wasn’t present before Janet’s blacklisting but were they ever compared and put against each other the way Gaga and Madonna were? Was that the cause they never got closer? I know Janet saw her in 2001 and there were good comments from both parts but why there wasn’t more? This is what I want so read from Britney I hope some of Janet is in the books

How is the media pushing it when these are excerpts quite literally from Britney’s own book?

As for Janet, she doesn’t make mention of her in the book. She cites her primary childhood idols as Madonna and Mariah. Obviously she’s a Janet fan given her history of covering her, so the impact is there. But it doesn’t seem, at least in her view anyway, that Janet impacted her the way some others did. Granted, that perhaps comes down to she and Janet not having much—if any—of a personal relationship the way she and some other artists do. She seems to be talking a lot about people who she idolizes on a personal level rather than a purely artistic one so maybe that’s where the distinction is. 

[Reject False Icons 4,769]

43 minutes ago, Future Lovers said:

How is the media pushing it when these are excerpts quite literally from Britney’s own book?

As for Janet, she doesn’t make mention of her in the book. She cites her primary childhood idols as Madonna and Mariah. Obviously she’s a Janet fan given her history of covering her, so the impact is there. But it doesn’t seem, at least in her view anyway, that Janet impacted her the way some others did. Granted, that perhaps comes down to she and Janet not having much—if any—of a personal relationship the way she and some other artists do. She seems to be talking a lot about people who she idolizes on a personal level rather than a purely artistic one so maybe that’s where the distinction is. 

Because they are making articles on how many times Madonna is mentioned in Britney’s book, it’s not like a big deal to make an article about, and back in the day they always asked Britney about Madonna and pushed it about her being an inspiration and a mother figure.

 its true but at a certain degree, just by watching Janet and Britney’s performances you can tell who was the biggest inspiration overall, maybe if Janet wasn’t blacklisted from the whole industry they would’ve at least mentioned her as her biggest inspiration