Grammy award winning singer, Britney Spears has issued a cease and desist letter to her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears.
Britney and her sister have been engaged in a battle of words ever since Jamie Lynn appeared on Good Morning America to promote her book, Things I Should Have Said, last week.
The book reportedly details her own life story, including her young daughter’s near-fatal accident in 2017, her relationship with Britney and the role she played in the singer’s controversial conservatorship.
During the interview, Jamie Lynn described herself as “my sister’s biggest supporter” and said she “took steps to help” end the conservatorship.
But according to ABC, she also describes Britney’s past behaviour in the book as “erratic”, “paranoid” and “spiralling”.
In a podcast released on Tuesday, January 18, Jamie Lynn said her sister started “changing” in 2002. She also described an incident where Britney supposedly locked herself in a room with a knife and told Jamie Lynn she was “scared”.
“This was a brilliant young woman who was going through a hard time – and if she couldn’t stand up herself, then somebody should have,” she told the Call Her Daddy podcast.
“I wasn’t an adult then. I couldn’t [but] somebody should have said, ‘Stop the presses. Give this girl a minute.'”
Responding to her allegations, Britney said she will sue her sister Jamie Lynn, if she continues to make “derogatory” statements about her while promoting the new book.
In a cease and desist letter, Britney’s lawyer Matthew Rosengart claims that the “ill-timed” memoir contains several “misleading or outrageous claims”.
Britney says she has not yet read the book, but she believes her sister has “exploited her for monetary gain,” he said.
“She will not tolerate it, nor should she,” the letter continued.
“Publicly airing false or fantastical grievances is wrong, especially when designed to sell books. It is also potentially unlawful and defamatory,” Rosengart warns in the letter.
“You recently reportedly stated that the book was ‘not about her.’ She takes you at your word and we, therefore, demand that you cease and desist from referencing Britney derogatorily during your promotional campaign.
“If you fail to do so or defame her, Britney will be forced to consider and take all appropriate legal action.”
Before the cease and desist letter, Britney had responded to her sister’s Good Morning America interview.
Britney said she was “bothered” that her sister described her behaviour as “out of control”.
“She was never around me much 15 years ago at that time… so why are we even talking about that unless she wants to sell a book at my expense.”
In a more recent Instagram post, she described Jamie Lynn as being pampered, saying “this was never my life”.
