West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler has apologized after she posted of a video in which she performed a dramatic reading of tweets written by singer Britney Spears to her sister Jamie Lynn.
Zegler took to Twitter this week to issue a full apology for her ill-advised actions, as well as to voice her support for Spears, who remains embroiled in painful family drama over the publication of her sister’s tell-all memoir Things I Should Have Said.
Related: Did Jamie Lynn Spears really run over her cats and then blame Tesla?
“Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Britney and am rooting for her always,” the 20-year-old tweeted. “While I meant no disrespect whatsoever, I should have thought about how this could be perceived, and I’m so sorry for upsetting or disappointing anyone.”
She added, “This is not a situation to be taken lightly, and we should all be lifting Britney up in this pivotal time. Thanks for hearing me out, and a big thank you to all who held me accountable.”
This is not a situation to be taken lightly, and we should all be lifting Britney up in this pivotal time. Thanks for hearing me out, and a big thank you to all who held me accountable. (2/2)
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) January 17, 2022
Zegler, who just earned a Golden Globe for her performance as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s film remake of Stephen Sondheim’s hit Broadway musical, posted a video performing tweets by Spears attacking her sister as an audition.
Related: Did Jamie Lynn Spears really run over her cats and then blame Tesla?
Fans quickly called her out for being insensitive and Zegler subsequently deleted the video, but not in time to prevent people from recirculating it on Twitter, where it continues to make the rounds.
Rachel Zegler did a monologue of Britney’s notes tweet dragging Jamie Lynn pic.twitter.com/pcp3usWNQX
— Mich (@mich_____00) January 16, 2022
This all comes just weeks ahead of the 2022 Oscar nominations, in which Zegler is said to be a frontrunner in the Best Actress category, and in which West Side Story is also thought to be a major contender for several awards.
In the past, industry insiders have attributed negative publicity as costing stars Academy Awards nominations. For example, in 2018, Variety reported that James Franco‘s snub for his performance in The Disaster Artist was due to allegations of sexual misconduct that were circulating at the time.
Meanwhile, Britney continues to battle it out with Jamie Lynn. As of this week, the younger sister has canceled her planned book tour, saying she didn’t write the memoir for the money. We’re sure that cease and desist letter Britney sent her had absolutely nothing to do with it.
JB
Actually, I think Rachel’s reading of the Britney tweets is pretty good. Are you seriously suggesting that the Academy would snub her over something as mundane as this??? It’s doubtful, especially for an organization that once awarded a best director Oscar to a known child molesting fugitive living in exile in France for f*ck’s sake.
dhmonarch89
the average Oscar voter is over 50, str8 and white- I doubt they care about Britney- and they don’t care what JK Rowling said about trans people, etc.
Toofie
Yeah, no, this won’t affect her chances. How could they compare this to Franco’s sex misconduct allegations? Ridiculous.
Jim
It could affect hear chances. Remember all these awards are popularity contest meant to promote those GIVING the awards.