Britney Spears fact-checked “trash” news reports that she was working on a new album that would be her first in eight years.
In late December, the Sun reported that the pop diva had enlisted hyper-pop artist Charli XCX to help bring her latest project to life. The British tabloid claimed that Spears detailed her vision for the music and that Charli XCX (given name Charlotte Aitchison) began recording songs in a studio.
Spears countered the reports — which have been shared by other outlets — and more in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!,” Spears captioned a photo of Guido Reni‘s painting of Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist.
The 42-year-old singer hasn’t released music of her own since her 2016 album, “Glory,” but revealed Wednesday that she has written “over 20 songs for other people” in the past two years. She admitted: “I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!!”
Most recently, Spears lent her voice to the 2023 song “Mind Your Business,” in collaboration with Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am. Before that, she returned to the music scene in a duet with Elton John on “Hold Me Closer,” a mashup of his “Tiny Dancer” with the title track from his 1992 album “The One.”
Spears also used her caption to slam speculation that her memoir, “The Woman in Me,” had been released without her consent. The “Toxic” singer-songwriter dropped her memoir on Oct. 24 and had promoted the novel on her social media accounts leading up to the release.
Then on Thursday, just a day after setting the record straight, Spears seemingly deactivated her Instagram account. The Grammy winner previously deactivated her Instagram in October prior to the release of “The Woman in Me,” which featured numerous bombshell revelations about her years-long conservatorship and her romance with Justin Timberlake.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.