Andy Cohen is recalling an unnerving interview he conducted of Britney Spears when the pop star was under the allegedly abusive conservatorship of her estranged father, Jamie Spears.
Cohen described the 2013 sit-down during his radio show Thursday as “creepy” and “weird,” saying she appeared like a “captive.”
The “Radio Andy” host interviewed the singer as part of her “Britney Jean” album release party, explaining that her manager at the time, Larry Rudolph, thought getting to know Cohen would help her feel more comfortable with possibly appearing on his late-night TV show, “Watch What Happens Live.”
Cohen, 55, said he flew from New York City to Los Angeles to chat with Britney and made sure to note that their conversation was neither filmed nor recorded.
He said he asked his two media friends, who were shooting a documentary about the Grammy winner at the time, what he should expect.
“They said, ‘There’s this woman who is at Britney’s side at all times, and she basically tells her what to do and where to go, and it’s really creepy,’” the Bravo exec shared, adding that he encountered said woman upon arriving for the interview.
“It was like Britney was her captive; [the woman] was her captor. … It was really creepy, really creepy,” he recalled, confirming that the handler never let Britney out of her sight.
“And whispering in her ear before everything. … And [Britney’s] like, ‘Mhm, mhm.’”
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Though the songstress, 41, mentioned the staffer by name in her newly released memoir, “The Woman in Me,” Cohen explained that he didn’t feel comfortable identifying her.
However, he made sure to note that Britney wrote about “how much she hated her.”
He also remembered an odd moment before the pair’s sit-down, saying the team “brought Britney in a birthday cake, and they’re like, ‘Happy birthday, Britney! Surprise!’ And Britney goes, ‘It’s not my birthday; my birthday [is next] month.’”
Cohen said he was confused by the “weird” spectacle and theorized that it was done “for the cameras.”
In her tantalizing tell-all, Britney details the almost 14 years she spent under the control of her dad — whom she describes as a “cult leader” — claiming he worked her to the bone, misappropriated her hard-earned money, body-shamed her, imposed a “strict diet” on her and forced her into rehab.
The controversial legal arrangement was terminated in November 2021 four months after Britney begged for her freedom in a harrowing speech in court.
Though Jamie has not addressed the specific allegations made in his daughter’s book, the sickly 71-year-old has continued to maintain his innocence.
He once said via his attorney that he “loves” Britney “unconditionally” and has “tried to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father.”
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