Musician Britney Spears’ former backup dancer claimed in his autobiography that the pop star’s parents once used a racial slur to refer to him.
“I was next to [Britney] while she was on the phone with them crying while she had it on speaker,” Short wrote in the autobiography, Page Six reported Thursday.
Columbus Short alleges Britney Spears’ parents used racial slur during fling https://t.co/xHJFc5K6BP pic.twitter.com/kHtgiH5vfF
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 25, 2021
Short claimed he overheard Spears’ parents ask, “Why are you f*cking that n***er?”
“Britney looked at me so apologetically, knowing I’d heard it,” he wrote, the outlet reported. “I shook my head and didn’t say anything, because what was there to say?” (RELATED: Morgan Wallen Apologizes After Appearing To Say The N-Word On Video)
Short also discussed the moment on Jazzie Belle’s YouTube show “Inside Hollywood.”
“I wasn’t shocked when it happened. Look where they’re from … they’re from Louisiana,” Short said. “The way it came out was so effortless, like that’s how they speak. I wasn’t shocked and I wasn’t hurt by it, I was just like, ‘Wow, this is … OK … I know who I am around here.’ Because they have black bodyguards doesn’t mean behind closed doors they don’t use that word.”
Short admitted he felt like Spears was using him during the interview.
“After that I felt like maybe [Britney] was using me to piss them off for some reason. I think she is a really sweet person that was tormented in a position on a high level that I can’t imagine,” he said.
Short also claimed he and Spears were only intimate together once in 2003, despite all the press and rumors.
It is unclear which one of Spears’ parents allegedly used the term, but both denied the allegations in statements to Page Six.
“I want to be very clear,” Lynne Spears told the outlet. “Those terrible words are not remotely in my vocabulary. I would never say that to anyone, much less my daughter. Ever.”
A source told Page Six that Jamie Spears was not involved in Spears’ life at all at the time. “Jamie was not there, and not involved,” the source told the outlet. “In fact, during this time period, Jamie was not involved in Britney’s business at all.”
Spears has been in the spotlight lately amid her conservatorship battle with her father.