As a member of the Backstreet Boys, AJ McLean has known Britney Spears for decades. And he doesn’t like to see her struggling under her conservatorship.
McLean revealed on Wednesday’s episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live that he’s had an up-close view of the situation, because they live in the same neighborhood and go to the same shopping center. He said he sees her “often” at a cupcake shop they both frequent.
“The last time I saw her, it broke my heart. Last time I saw her, she was with a gentleman,” McLean said. “I’m assuming it was security and, or maybe, a driver because I know based on her words, which I do believe 100 percent, you know, she’s not allowed to drive herself.”
McLean said Spears, who worked with the Backstreet Boys as recently as 2016 on their song “Matches,” didn’t seem to recognize him at first.
“Went in, she was there, she looked right at me and I was like, ‘Hey, it’s AJ.’ And she just kind of had this glass face,” he said. “Like, she just didn’t know who was there. It took her a minute. And then she realized it was me and we, we hugged and we talked for a brief moment, but I could just see that, you know, this, this wasn’t her, like, I’m not looking at the person I knew from years and years ago. And I know a lot of that, in my opinion, could be whatever they’re, they’re keeping her on or whatever they have her on, which is just insane. It’s not, it’s not fair. And I just don’t think it’s right. So again, Free Britney, that’s my whole thing, man. All for it.”
McLean said he was especially bothered by the idea that Spears couldn’t communicate with people she knows from rehab.
“One thing that really grinds my gears because I am sober and because I am in a, a program, the fact that she cannot stay in contact with anyone from her fellowship, from when she was going to [Alcoholic Anonymous] meetings, that is, is [bulls***] to me because that’s, that’s the whole core of what we do in this program, is fellowship,” he said. We lean on each other, we look up to each other for support and, and, and, and, you know, if somebody were to take that from me, it would really be difficult for me to stay sober, honest to God.”
McLean’s comments come on the same day as Spears’s latest hearing in her court battle to gain control of her life. According to TMZ, a judge in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom surrounded by protesters from the #FreeBritney movement ruled that she is allowed to hire Mathew Rosengart to be her attorney, as she had requested.
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