Jamie Lynn Spears renames her memoir after intense fan backlash

‘Things I Should Have Said’ isn’t the clean break Spears thinks it is.
October 12, 2021 11:57 a.m. EST
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Once largely inseparable, the Spears sisters have rarely been seen together in recent years. As the #FreeBritney movement began to pick up steam and more fans and famous allies began to speak out in support of Britney Spears and the end of her conservatorship, Britney’s younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears was mostly absent from the conversation.

Now, as the elder Spears has spoken out about her family’s lack of support, Jamie Lynn has announced that her upcoming memoir will no longer feature one of her sister’s most famous lyrics. The time has come to read the room.

In July 2021, it was rumored that Jamie Lynn’s memoir would be titled I Must Confess, a lyric made famous by Britney’s 1998 breakout single “…Baby One More Time.”

Worthy Publishing quickly tried to squash the rumor that Jamie Lynn’s memoir would be titled after the famous pop song, writing “We deeply regret that incorrect and incomplete information about her book has appeared in the public space, particularly at this sensitive time for Jamie Lynn and her family.” 

That "sensitive time" included Britney finally gaining control over her own social media accounts and blasting her family, including her younger sister, for their lack of involvement and help in getting the pop star out of her restrictive and dehumanizing conservatorship that had been run for 13 years by her father, Jamie Spears. 

A few days after Worthy Publishing announced Jamie Lynn wouldn’t be using her I Must Confess title, Britney shared an Instagram post slamming her father and sister, including a reference to Jamie Lynn performing to Britney’s songs at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards, writing “I don't like that my sister showed up at an awards show and performed MY SONGS to remixes !!!!! My so-called support system hurt me deeply !!!! This conservatorship killed my dreams ... so all I have is hope and hope is the only thing in this world that is very hard to kill ... yet people still try !!!!” 

On October 11, Jamie Lynn shared the cover art for her memoir and announced the finalized title, Things I Should Have Said. On her Instagram, Spears said that the book was initially inspired by a near-fatal 2017 ATV accident her daughter Maddie was involved in.

“I felt a strong conviction to share my story, but there was a lot of personal work and healing that had to happen before I could share my truth the proper way,” wrote Spears. “I’ve spent my whole life believing that I had to pretend to be perfect, even when I wasn’t, so for the first time I am opening 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, that I normally would have just glossed right over, like I was taught to.”

Jamie Lynn also announced that proceeds from her memoir will be donated to This Is My Brave, an organization that encourages those working through mental illness to share their story. Philanthropic angle or not, this hasn’t stopped Britney’s fans from questioning why Jamie Lynn hasn’t supported her big sister. That’s putting it mildly. 

Things I Should Have Said will be released January 18, 2022, which still gives Spears time to go for a third title, My Bad.

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