(CNN) — Britney Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, have spoken out against tabloid reports that they say are false.
Spears and Federline, who were married from 2004 to 2007, have two children: Sean and Jayden, now teenagers.
A recent Daily Mail post quoted Federline expressing his fear that Spears was “under the influence of methamphetamine.” A different article in The Sun, another British tabloid, claimed that Federline had staged a “botched intervention” to try to help her ex-wife.
“The fact that people claim things that are not true is very sad,” Spears wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend. And she added that she hoped Federline and her son Preston, who is also quoted in the Daily Mail story, had not said such things about her.
“… it breaks my heart and the news is so low… I always felt that the press attacked me…”, wrote the artist. “It’s sad because everyone just sits idly like it’s okay to make up lies to such an extent… Why are they telling me I have to sit idly by and take it,” she added.
CNN has reached out to a representative for Spears for further comment.
Federline also posted a statement on Instagram, saying his family is saddened that journalists from both outlets “chose to fabricate lies and publish the pain our family has endured, along with the trauma of our minor children, in the Daily Mail and The Sun”.
He added that reporters were allowed “into our house because we trusted them, but that trust was lost and we cut ties in March for many reasons.”
“The lies and attempts to exploit minors for clicks are a repulsive example of where some journalism has sadly sunk to today,” Federline’s statement concluded.
A Daily Mail spokesperson told CNN in a statement Monday that the organization stands behind the story written by Daphne Barak.
“Daphne Barak has assured us that the quotes attributed to Kevin and his family are accurate and accurately reflect interviews conducted, in which Kevin expressed to Daphne and her producer Erbil Gunasti and to members of the film his fears that Britney might be using methamphetamine,” the statement read in part.
“Kevin also made it clear to Daphne that he hoped someone would expose the situation, as he saw it, because that would be the way to get help for Britney,” the statement concluded.
CNN has reached out to The Sun for comment.
