Britney Spears said she was saddened to hear her son Jayden expressed disappointment about how she has “struggled” to love them as a mother.
“[I]t deeply saddens me to know [Jayden’s] outcry of saying I wasn’t up to his expectations of a mother … and maybe one day we can meet face to face and talk about this openly !!!!” Spears wrote in a lengthy midnight Instagram post.
Jayden Federline, 15, spoke about his emotions towards his mom in a sit-down interview with filmmaker Daphne Barak that was teased in a Daily Mail article earlier in the day.
“I think Mom has struggled giving us both attention and showing us equal love & I don’t think she showed enough to Preston and I feel really bad for that,” he began. “We’ve both been through so much pressure in the past that this is our safe place now, to process all the emotional trauma we’ve been through to heal, heal our mental state.”
Jayden and his brother Sean Preston Federline, 16, haven’t seen their mother in months, according to their father and Spears’ ex-hubby Kevin Federline. They also didn’t attend Spear’s wedding to Sam Asghari.
Jayden, who spoke for himself and his older brother, talked about the difficulty of having a mom constantly in the spotlight but said he thinks their relationship with their mother is fixable.
“It’s just going to take a lot of time and effort,” he said, according to Barak’s account in the Daily Mail. “I just want her to get better mentally. When she gets better I really want to see her again.”
He addressed Spears directly, sharing how much he loves her.
“I love you a lot, I hope for the best for you,” Jayden said in an appeal to his mom. “Maybe one day we can sit down like this and talk again.”
Spears responded with love towards her boys, but also knocked some of their statements and their father.
“Finally at 40 without the restraints of what my family did to me … I say to my son Jayden that I send all the love in the world to you every day for the rest of my life !!!!” Spears wrote. “My love for my children has no boundaries.”
She also appealed directly to Preston in the post, sending her love to him as well.
However, Spears particularly took offense at Jayden’s comment on her mental health status and his defense of her father, Jamie Spears, who placed her in a 13-year-long conservatorship.
“As for my mental health … my dear child understand you must learn to pick up a book and read one before you resort to even thinking about my intellect sweetheart !!!”
Jayden said his grandfather Jamie didn’t deserve the hate he is getting.
“I love him, with all my heart,” the 15-year-old said. “He was just trying to be a father.”
Spears lashed out at her son’s remarks in her Instagram post.
“Psss if you can honestly sit back and say with your sensible brilliant mind what memaw and paw paw did to me was fine and call them not bad people … then yes I have failed as a mother and hopefully that’s a chat for you and your father to sit face to face and try to learn WHAT’S GOOD.”
The popstar also bashed the boy’s father for not having a job and “smoking weed every day” and called him a hypocrite.
“It’s horrible to see your dad be a hypocrite and say the media is horrible yet he has you talking about personal matters to them !!!” Spears wrote. “If you could pause for a second remember where you came from !!! I hope you can look in the mirror and remember … you are my child and always will be !!!!”
Spears and Federline married in October 2004 and were divorced by July 2007 after having Preston and Jayden. Federline has main custody of the boys.
