Britney Spears 'Is Sad' for Father Jamie as He Deals With Health Issues — But She'll 'Never Forget the Way He Destroyed Her Life'
Britney Spears has mixed feelings about her estranged dad as he continues to fight serious health battles.
Over the past few years, Jamie, 72, has experienced colon issues, kidney problems and he recently had one of his legs amputated following a life-threatening infection.
"She’s sad for him but it’s not that simple to just forgive and forget the way he destroyed her life," a source spilled to a news outlet. "It’s an extremely complicated and painful situation."
And according to the source, the situation became even more painful for the Princess of Pop, 42, when her distant sons — Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden, 17 — chose to pursue a relationship with their grandfather, despite a past altercation that resulted in Jamie being banned from seeing the boys for several years.
"It hurts that her dad is somehow more important to them than she is," the source added. "It’s a kick in the teeth."
As OK! previously reported, on August 24, 2019, the 72-year-old allegedly knocked down a door, grabbed Sean Preston and allegedly "shook him." He was not visibly injured from the incident but Jamie did not fight back when their father, Kevin Federline, pushed for a restraining order.
"It was not Kevin’s desire to see Jamie Spears be prosecuted," a statement read at the time. "The police report that he initiated was only for the purpose of obtaining protection orders for the children and those remain in place."
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Five years later, Kevin's longtime lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, confirmed both boys "miss their grandfather" and have chosen to forgive him for the incident.
In a 60 Minutes Australia interview that aired in 2022, Jayden also expressed empathy for his grandfather, and insisted that he believed Jamie still "cares about" the "Toxic" singer.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
"He was trying to be like any father, like pursue his daughter's dream of being a superstar, working and doing all these concerts and performing," he said at the time.
Jayden also voiced his love for his grandmother Lynne and his uncle Bryan.
"They are not bad people! They know what we are going through now," he continued. "They want our future to be what we want it to be. They just want to watch over us."
The source spoke with In Touch about Britney's relationship with her dad.