"Innocent Temptress"

When Britney, or her mother, thought she wasn’t getting enough screen time, she pursued other ambitions. Britney moved to New York, with her mother, of course, in order to pursue singing. Originally Brit was turned down by several labels, including Sony and Mercury, but was eventually signed by Jive records. It was late 1998 when Britney Spears captured the media’s attention, and she would have it for the next ten years. Her single “…Baby one more time,” soared to the top of the charts, as well as her music video for the single. Britney became the pop phenomenon of the new millennium. In 1999, like her single, her album hit the top of the charts, and was there for 6 weeks. Her album went 14 x platinum, “Britney world” was created. 

Her fan base grew from young adolescent girls to middle age men, but was getting even her fans to talk. Controversy broke our after the music video for “…Baby One More Time,” and her provocative cover on Rolling Stone magazine. Britney’s response: “I don’t get it all I did was tie up my shirt and wore a sports bra. Also, on an interview with Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie said to Britney “I don’t want to see you in that top again…I’m old enough to be your mother I could ground you!”  After wearing a skimpy top to the 1999 MTV music awards. Later that year it was rumored that Britney had undergone breast augmentation. Britney denied these rumors, but a close source to Brit told Rolling Stone magazine “She regretted the decision almost immediately partially because her breasts were still growing.” It was clear that the media had a preconceived notion of what they wanted Brit to be, and so she conformed. The “innocent temptress” look was established after the much talked about controversy.  Stuck in a world of extremely high media expectations it was only a matter of time before Hollywood started influencing the mind of our favorite new star.