(NewsNation Now) — Jamie Lynn Spears’ memoir “Things I Should Have Said” published Tuesday amid public controversy surrounding the actress’ relationship with her sister, pop icon Britney Spears.
In the book, Jamie Lynn Spears “opens up for the first time, telling her unfiltered story on her own terms,” according to the publisher’s website.
“Despite growing up in one of America’s most tabloid-famous families, Jamie Lynn has never told her story in her own words. In ‘Things I Should Have Said,’ she talks frankly about the highs and lows, sharing what it was like traveling the world as a kid, how she moved into acting and performing herself, what life as a child star took from her, and the life-changing reality of becoming a teen mom,” the publishing company wrote.
But already the book has drawn criticism from people who know Jamie Lynn Spears personally and accuse her of skewing the truth.
“Nothing that she said in her book about me actually happened,” “Zoey 101” co-star Alexa Nikolas wrote in a Jan. 14 Instagram post.
The mental illness and addiction nonprofit This Is My Brave also declined in October to accept proceeds from the memoir.
The book’s reported tentative original title, “I Must Confess” — a nod to Britney Spears’ hit song “…Baby One More Time” — received backlash from fans who alleged Jamie Lynn spears was using her sister’s success for book sales despite the pair’s seemingly tumultuous relationship.
The publishing company, Worthy Publishing, went on to issue a statement in July claiming the book remained untitled at the time. Any “erroneously” released information was “incorrect and incomplete.”
But as of Tuesday, the web URL on the Worthy Publishing landing page for Jamie Lynn Spears’ book still referenced it as “I Must Confess.”
The relationship between Jamie Lynn Spears and Britney Spears became the subject of public scrutiny as more details about the elder sister’s conservatorship were revealed throughout the previous several years.
A Los Angeles judge in November ended a conservatorship that had controlled the pop singer’s life and money for nearly 14 years.
The decision concluded Britney Spears’ public efforts to end the conservatorship, hire her own attorney, have her father removed from power and finally win the freedom to make her own medical, financial and personal decisions for the first time since 2008.
Britney Spears was a 26-year-old new mother at the height of her career when her father established the conservatorship, at first on a temporary basis, in February 2008 after a series of public mental health struggles.
Now 40, Spears’ career is on indefinite hold and she is engaged to be married a second time.
In June, Jamie Lynn Spears said she was proud of her sister for speaking out about her life under the conservatorship overseen by their father and that she supported whatever would make the singer happy.
But in a Jan. 14 statement that Britney Spears posted on Twitter, the pop superstar questioned her sister’s loyalty.
“All I know is I love you unconditionally !!! So go ahead and say whatever you want … it’s so tacky for family to fight publicly like this !!! You say you love me … yet your loyalty is still with the people that hurt me the most !!!” Britney Spears said.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
