Kelly Clarkson’s latest song cover for Kellyoke took on the one and only Britney Spears. For the June 15 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kelly performed her own rendition of Brit’s 2008 hit “Womanizer.” She belted out the lyrics to the song in a more rock version than Brit’s original. As always, Kelly put her own spin on the song, adding it to the list of amazing covers that she’s sun on her talk show.
The timing of this song choice is interesting, as it comes just one week after Britney publicly slammed Kelly for a 2007 interview that she did. During a radio interview 15 years ago, Kelly was asked about Britney, who was dealing with a major public breakdown at the time. The comments came around the time that Britney was dealing with her divorce from Kevin Federline, as well as the aftermath of her infamous head-shaving incident. Despite the drama in her personal life, though, Brit dropped her album, Blackout, in 2007.
“Man, wouldn’t it be funny if she’s just totally screwing with everyone?” Kelly wondered, at the time. “Cause I mean, think about it. She’s done no press for her album — which I love, by the way — but she’s done no press, just gets so much press off all this other stuff.”
Even though the interview took place 15 years ago, Britney kept it in the back of her mind, and called Kelly out for it on June 8. “‘I don’t forget’…don’t you wish she would say she’s kidding???” Britney wrote on Instagram. “Clarkson…in a world where bullying has been heartbreaking, I’ve had my share. Can we get an AWW??? Ps…I’m not kidding…play on friends, play on!!”
Kelly’s fans immediately came to her defense, flooding the comments section of Britney’s post. They explained to Britney that Kelly’s interview wasn’t done as a diss and pointed out that she has been an advocate for Britney in the years since. Britney has since deleted her caption.