How Pink Really Feels About Britney Spears
Pink is opening up about what it was like being pitted against Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in the early 2000s. The pop singers debuted their first studio albums to millions of fans at practically the same time. With Spears' "...Baby One More Time," Aguilera's self-titled "Christina Aguilera" in 1999, and Pink's "Can't Take Me Home" all hitting TV music video countdowns and shopping malls in the year 2000, the three women in music were often seen as competition, a sentiment has since Pink found to be "unfair" (more on this later).
The rivalry between Pink and Christina Aguilera began in 2001 when the two didn't exactly hit it off while working together on "Lady Marmalade." "We were super young and super new at the whole thing, and I think I'm an alpha, and she's an alpha," Pink told TODAY. When it came to Spears, however, Pink might have caused the rift singlehandedly.
The artist name-dropped Spears on her single "Don't Let Me Get Me" in 2001. The lyrics went, "Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears / She's so pretty, that just ain't me." Spears didn't take too kindly to that, and 20 years later, Pink is revealing that much of the feuding was, well, blown out of proportion. Scroll down to see how the two artists look back at the moment now.
Pink says she was never "anti-Britney"
So, what happened between Britney Spears and Pink? At the time, Spears told Rolling Stone on the name-drop, "She probably [said] that to protect her whole gimmick thing. I respect that, but don't be a hypocrite and put me down when you're, like, performing with your belly showing, too. I still think her music rocks, but the whole thing hurt my feelings."
Hindsight is 20/20. In a May 13 interview with People, Pink shared how it was "so unfair to all the girls [out there]" that she was pitted against other female pop singers like Spears, and how she was never the "anti-Britney." "I love Britney — she used to carry around my album," Pink told the outlet. "I was like, 'Dude, I'm a street punk, I just skateboard. That doesn't have to be the anti-Britney. I don't want to fight anybody."
Pink went on to share how she dealt with the constant talks of feuding and tabloid attention between the women leading pop in the early 2000s. "One of the best things ... [a music producer] ever told me was that this music business is big enough for everybody to win at the same time," she told People. "There's no such thing as competition. I think we navigated through it as good as a 20-year-old girl can. Now I think it's totally different. Girls supporting girls is rad — I love to watch it."
We're glad these two have seemingly said "So What" to their tiff.