Spears says marriage to Asghari was a fake distraction

Britney Spears said in a now-deleted Instagram post this week that her brief marriage to Sam Asghari "almost felt like a fake distraction" as she coped with being cut off from contact with her two sons, prompting a public response from her ex-husband who called the union "very real" to him. Spears made the comments in a lengthy post on Sunday in which she reflected on what she described as "the hardest years" of her life while she was estranged from her children.

"Were just people so fragile and human," Spears wrote, adding, "the hardest years of my life were my two sons gone for those 3 years. I was cut off from calling or texting" and that her "secret to survival was denial and a lot of tears." She continued that, while she loved her home, "there is waaay too much abuse and trauma in there," and said she now feels she is healing because "im hungry again like a child or baby." The post included a nude photo and was removed from her account as of Tuesday.

Asghari, through a representative, pushed back on the characterization. "Our marriage was very real to me," the statement read. "It may have been short, but we were together for seven years. I was in love with her, will always...