Britney Spears slams Diane Sawyer for infamous 2003 interview that left her in tears: 'I was a baby'

Britney Spears finally broke her silence on the set-up and content of her infamous interview with Diane Sawyer in 2003. In a now-deleted, lengthy Instagram post, the 40-year-old singer slammed the veteran newswoman for her misogynistic line of questioning during the interview which took place in the aftermath of Spears' then-recent breakup with Justin Timberlake. "Do we dare forget the Diane Sawyer interview in my apartment almost 20 years ago?" the pop star wrote. "What was with the 'You're in the wrong' approach?? Geeze... and making me cry???" Spears said she was holed up in her Manhattan penthouse after her very public breakup with Timberlake and was definitely not in the right headspace to do the interview when she was "forced" to sit down with Sawyer.

"Seriously though... I lived in my apartment for a year and never spoke to anyone... my manager put that woman in my home and made me talk to her on national television and she asked if I had a shopping problem!!! when did I have a shopping problem?" Spears wrote. "Something I never shared when I had that break up years ago was that I couldn't talk afterward. I was in shock... pretty lame of my dad and three men to show up at my door when I could hardly speak... two days later they put Diane Sawyer in my living room... they forced me to talk!"

Sawyer came under fire for her conduct during the interview earlier this year as well, when The New York Times and Hulu's co-produced 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary highlighted the interview as an example of the sexism Spears was forced to deal with at a young age. "You broke his heart. You did something that caused him so much pain, so much suffering. What did you do?" Sawyer asked a then-22-year-old Spears. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, she also grilled the singer over having pre-marital sex, allegations of partying and drug use, being late to a premiere and for giving the finger to a paparazzo.

During the interview, the American television broadcast journalist also brought up a comment made by Kendel Ehrlich—Maryland's first lady in 2003—who'd slammed Spears as a bad influence at an anti-domestic violence conference that year. "Really, if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would," Ehrlich said in a speech at the conference. While the 'Toxic' singer appeared shocked by Ehrlich's comments, Sawyer seemingly defended the former prosecutor, saying: "It's because of the example for kids and how hard it is to be a parent."

In her now-deleted Instagram post, Spears also addressed a part of the interview when—after talking in detail about the pop icon's sex life—Sawyer insisted to Spears that she was a woman, not a girl; a reference to Spears's 'I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman' song. "She said 'a woman or a girl'... I would like to say now, 'Ma'am I'm a catholic slut!!!'" Spears wrote. "You wanna join me at a mass and I can serve your husband my certificate on shopping for anonymous players? I should spend a thousand dollars if I want every day of my life and she can kiss my white ass."

While Sawyer is yet to comment on Spears' comments about the interview, in a statement to PEOPLE, Jamie Spears' lawyer Alex Weingarten denied Jamie's involvement in setting up the talk. "Mr. Spears has no idea what Ms. Spears is talking about. Jamie never set up any interview with Diane Sawyer and was not present for any such interview," the statement read. "He had nothing to do with Britney's career at this point and was completely uninvolved in this interview. Jamie loves Britney very much, wishes Britney nothing but the best and hopes that she continues to seek the help that she needs to stay safe and healthy."