britmebaby_onemoretime

I'm sure the are-they-or-aren't they-together/virginity thing was strictly PR-based but I think the relationship itself was genuine. They knew each other since they were kids, they connected on a level they couldn't with anyone else because of their shared history/similarities and they both basically mirrored each other at that point in their careers--small-town Southern kids who grew up in the public eye with the same passion for performing. Justin even said that years later in an interview-- "We were two birds of the same feather -- small-town kids, doing the same thing. But then you become adults, and the way you were as kids doesn't make any sense. I won't speak on her, but at least for me, I was a totally different person... I just don't think we were normal; there was nothing normal about our existence. We spent way too much time being the biggest thing for teenyboppers." I think they were in love and had a deep bond/genuine feelings for each other (the way they lit up around each other melted my 12-year-old heart haha) but they were also like 20 years old. They really were kids. Then the suspected cheating happened, hearts were broken and everything fell apart. They grew in two totally different directions after the break-up. I don't think there's any way in hell they would be together now, even if they hadn't had broken up way back then. I can barely even imagine them holding a conversation now.

I mean, I agree to an extent, which is why I said she was young, having fun and blowing off steam. She earned it! Yeah, she probably went extra wild because of her position in the public eye which I don't blame her for, I would have, too. I'm just saying, knowing what we know now about what happened next (the breakdown) there was obviously some mental health issues at the root of that, too. I was wild at 22 but I didn't end up floating in and out of a British accent, walking around in public with no pants and blood on my panties and shaving my head. So looking at what happened next, maybe some of her wildness/quirks in the Chaotic area stemmed from that, too. That's all I was trying to say, lol.

I'm torn with how I feel about this era. For one, she looked amazing and was just so fun, fierce and happy. I loved seeing her giddy and taking so much joy in getting to know a guy and actually act like a young, carefree woman and not just a persona. That being said, she was clearly immature and reckless and diving headfirst into a relationship that I don't think either one of them was really ready for. Kevin had a kid with one on the way and Brit was probably still hurting from a number of things like her breakup with JT, rumored issues with her parents and label, career pressures, etc. I just think the poor girl was severely overworked and socially underdeveloped at this point. Plus, and while I'm definitely no expert, this is around the age mental issues begin manifesting and revealing themselves in adults so we don't know what she was battling behind the scenes, either. It also appeared like she was self-medicating with "party drugs" during the Chaotic era which is why some of her antics and general recklessness/"anti-Britney" behavior began to become amplified and raise some eyebrows. That being said, she was also young, dumb and in love and clearly wanted to blow off steam, have fun, shed her image and send one big f**k you to the media and her team which Kevin enabled. And why not? She really thought he was gonna be the one to save her. She found herself with a down-home, working class, struggling dancer who was so the opposite of who people envisioned for her and I feel like that was a major part of the attraction. He was rough around the edges and she wanted to be, too. She was so tired of being a product and I think she really found a piece of herself in him. I don't like Kevin, I always questioned his intentions, but I also don't think he was solely to blame for everything that transpired after. I think it was an overflowing pot (full of vegetables? ) of all sorts of issues, pressure, heartbreak, poor mental health, unrelenting press, negativity and the general insanity caused by a career of her caliber. Sure, she made some really bad choices, and yes, she should be held accountable, but I also can't say I'm surprised she did. I would have been broken, too. TL;DR: It did tarnish her image with the GP and subsequently increased the media attention on her for the worse.