Britney Spears’ tragic story involves many unwanted encounters with California’s paparazzi, so who could blame her if she decided to move to another country? Since the mid-’00s, the beloved pop star has been harassed and berated by photographers looking to photograph her at her lowest moments. Between the infamous 2007 haircut Spears gave herself amid a particularly stressful period to the heartbreaking photos of her crying while holding her son in a restaurant, there’s been very little about her life that photogs haven’t been willing to commercialize for a payday. Unfortunately, the fervent interest in her life has yet to die down — especially in the age of Spears’ feud with her family (particularly her father and sister) over her previous conservatorship and her efforts to get it overturned. Fortunately, the case went in her favor.
Taking to her Instagram stories, Spears took the paparazzi that had gathered in Maui, where she was vacationing in 2021, to task about invading her privacy and Photoshopping her images beyond her true likeness. “The paps know where I am and it’s really not fun !!!! It’s pretty hard going anywhere cause these silly faces keep popping up to take my picture [camera and rolling-eyes emoji],” wrote Spears, adding, “But not only do they take my picture … they distort my body and mess with the image and it’s embarrassing [grimacing, flushed, and upside-down face emojis] !!!!!” (via E! News). Unfortunately, Spears’ relationship with the paparazzi hasn’t improved much in the years since — and the tension once forced her to claim she was moving to Mexico. But did she actually go?
Where Britney Spears lives today
Britney Spears has resided in California for most of her professional career, but her most loyal fans know that she’s a Southern girl born in Mississippi. In December 2024, however, Spears stunned fans when she claimed that she’d said goodbye to the U.S. in favor of Mexico, and her gripes were pretty similar to before. “It really kind of hurts my feelings that the paparazzi make my face look like I’m wearing, like a white Jason mask,” Spears shared in an Instagram video complaining about her paparazzi shots (via E! News). “It doesn’t even look like me.” She also spoke of the paparazzi’s general cruelness to her over the years before revealing her big move. “And that’s why I’ve moved to Mexico.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if she ever actually made the tropical paradise her full-time home until years after Spears’ first public breakdown went viral. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who spoke with a source close to the singer, Spears didn’t actually move to Mexico as she previously stated. However, it does appear that she spent some time south of the border. Amid the flurry of reactions to her surprising news, Spears whipped out her Instagram app and addressed the chit chat. “Not sure why I’m explaining myself, but there’s a little negativity with me mentioning my move to Mexico,” she wrote, explaining that she had every opportunity to return to the U.S. as she wanted. Interestingly, Spears also claimed that she had at least two homes, with one of them being in Mexico. She took time to gush about the country for its natural beauty, particularly the sunrises.
So, apparently, she just plans to take lengthy vacations?
