Few things are cringier for a celebrity than having their charitable donation publicly rejected, and this particular awkwardness has now come for Jamie Lynn Spears. A mental health nonprofit called This Is My Brave has declined the offer of a portion of the younger Spears’ upcoming book profits after receiving some pushback from critics.
Britney Spears’ sister spoke out earlier this month on Instagram about her upcoming memoir, Things I Should Have Said, and how writing it caused her to open up about “my own mental health, because this process challenged me to have to be painfully honest with myself, and face a lot of hard things.”
She went on to say that the “book gave me closure on this ‘30 year long’ chapter of my life” and that she’d be giving “a portion of my book proceeds” to This Is My Brave, “because I know how scary it can be to share personal struggles, especially if you don’t feel you have the support or a safe space to do so, and they are doing amazing work to support and encourage people as they bravely share their experiences.”
In the little more than a week since that announcement, Britney Spears fans bombarded This Is My Brave’s Instagram account to say, “Free Britney!”, and things like, “Honestly how dare you all partner with Jamie Lynn Spears.” Many of the comments claim that Jamie Lynn Spears “tormented” her sister and/or was complicit in the elder Spears being held in a 13-year-long conservatorship.
On Monday, This Is My Brave posted a simple quote card with the text: “We heard you. We’re taking action. We are deeply sorry to anyone we offended. We are declining the donation from Jamie Lynn Spears’ upcoming book.” Their caption explains how they were “recently recommended to be a beneficiary organization for the proceeds from Jamie Lynn Spears’ upcoming book,” but that they have “made the decision to decline the offer of receiving proceeds from the book sales.”
Britney Spears hasn’t said anything about her younger sister directly, but fans have long surmised that there’s beef being had there. One glaring nod to the supposed tension was an Instagram post from Spears in July 2021, in which she wrote: “There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support … there’s nothing worse than that.”
“How dare the people you love the most say anything at all … did they even put a hand out to even lift me up at the TIME !!!??? How dare you make it public that NOW you CARE … did you put your hand out when I was drowning ???? Again … NO,” wrote Britney.
Her post came in the wake of Jamie Lynn posting about her sister on her own platform, telling fans that she “made a very conscious choice in my life to only participate in her life as her sister, as an aunt to her boys.” She added, “Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to with a hashtag on a public platform, but I can assure you that I’ve supported my sister — long before there was a hashtag — and I’ll support her long after.”