Britney Spears Network: Britney Spears speaks out against TMZ documentary: 'The media has always been cruel to me'

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari walk down the aisle in gorgeous California ceremony

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Britney Spears is speaking out on Instagram after TMZ aired a new documentary examining the pop star's life since she was freed from her conservatorship in November 2021.

"Britney Spears: The Price of Freedom," which aired on Fox May 15, alleges Spears' mental health is turbulent, she poses a physical danger to herself and Asghari and she hasn't spoken with her children Sean Preston Federline, 17, and Jayden Federline, 16, in over a year.

Britney Spears responds to TMZ documentary on Instagram saying that the media has always been "cruel" to her.

Spears spoke out about the production on Instagram Thursday.

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"The concern and just effort on TMZ's part of being the trashiest news channel for news," Spears wrote. "These men who I have no idea who they are, are talking about me as if they have any right at all to do so."

She continued: "The media has always been cruel to me and most people probably wouldn't even comment on it but I do think some people might believe this and I care."

Spears said she thinks "some people are wanting to hear my story" but that it may take her "a year, maybe longer" to put it out herself.

A day before "Britney Spears" aired, the pop star's husband, Sam Asghari, defended Spears and accused people of exploiting her in the media.

Sam Asghari on Spears' media exposure: Britney Spears' husband slams people putting her 'under a microscope' ahead of TMZ documentary

"The last thing I want to do is speak on my wife's behalf," Asghari said on his Instagram Story May 14, reuploaded onto Twitter by the account @PopCrave. "I would never do that. I respect her privacy. That's why I don't talk as much, and I find it absolutely disgusting for the people that were in her life at the time, when she didn't have a voice, they went and told her story like it was theirs."

Asghari also told people not to believe what they read about Spears online, which he described as clickbait "99% of the time."

'I think I'm gonna cry' Britney Spears freed from conservatorship after 13 years

TMZ's documentary featured interviews with Dr. Charles Sophy, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Kevin Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan and reporters from TMZ, who relayed information from unnamed sources. The physicians have not treated Spears.

Asghari also told people not to believe what they read about Spears online, which he described as clickbait "99% of the time."

More: Britney Spears and the empowerment of taking back your narrative

Spears and Asghari got engaged in September 2021, days after Spears' father Jamie filed a petition with a Los Angeles judge seeking to end the pop star's conservatorship, a legal arrangement that gave him control over her estate since 2008.

Legally, Spears could have gotten married, but under the conservatorship (which was terminated in November 2021 after 13 years), the wedding had to be approved as with other major life decisions.

Contributing: Charles Trepany

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Britney Spears speaks out against TMZ documentary: 'The media has always been cruel to me'