Jamie Lynn's 'Dancing with the Stars' Debut Sparks Fury From Britney Fans

Jamie Lynn Spears' debut on Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) was met with outrage from a number of Britney Spears fans, following the contestant's public feud with her older sister.

Zoey 102 star Jamie Lynn Spears made her ballroom debut alongside professional partner Alan Bersten during the popular ABC show's Season 32 premiere, which aired on Tuesday.

The Spears sisters publicly exchanged statements aimed at one another about 18 months ago, after Jamie Lynn Spears discussed a tattered relationship with the pop star while promoting her memoir, Things I Should Have Said.

In one Instagram post in early 2022, Britney Spears called her younger sister a "selfish little brat." The post was in reaction to Jamie Lynn Spears' appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, during which she said that the Toxic singer had offered to buy their mother, Lynne Spears, a house if she divorced their father, Jamie Spears.

Around that time, a lawyer for Britney Spears issued a cease and desist letter demanding that Jamie Lynn Spears stop talking about her during interviews—with legal action threatened should she refuse to comply.

While Britney Spears, who was released from a 13-year conservatorship in late 2021, was reported to have reconciled with her sister in recent months, many fans of the singer continue to express their distaste for Jamie Lynn Spears.

As such, when the younger sister made her debut on Dancing with the Stars, her presence on the screen met with a flood of posts on X, former Twitter.

Sharing an image of Jamie Lynn Spears smiling in the DWTS studio, one viewer wrote: "Everyone remember when Jamie Lynn Spears let her sister be abused for 13 years while she lived her sweet hillbilly life in luxury all on her sisters dime?"

Another shared a screenshot from the show, alongside an imagined host introduction. "She expertly danced around the fact that she was complicit in the abuse of her sister," read the post. "Let's see if she can dance the cha cha cha tonight. It's Jamie Lynn Spears!"

Posting a still of Meryl Streep as her famed iconic character Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada, another said: "All y'all who voted to save Jamie Lynn Spears, you will be dealt with. In Britney's name!"

"Remember we are NOT voting for Jamie Lynn," one viewer stated on the social media platform, while another wrote: "Guys I don't care how bad anyone is tonight priority number 1 is getting Jamie Lynn Spears gone! Love you Alan but she's gotta go."

While Jamie Lynn Spears' appearance on the show attracted an army of detractors, some X users defended her.

Addressing the naysayers, one commented: "Everyone bullying Jamie Lynn Spears on here: 1. You don't know any of these people. 2. Bullying accusations were from when she was a teenager. 3. Britney is clearly unwell. 4. You don't know any of these people."

Agreeing with this take, another referenced reports from over the summer that the Spears sisters had reconciled. "Britney literally made up with her and it's still not enough for these clowns," the X user said.

"I'm ready for the Jamie Lynn Spears redemption era," another viewer weighed in. "The internet has been endlessly sure about who she is/was for far too long."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Jamie Lynn Spears via email for comment.

Speaking in a pre-taped interview for the show before stepping out to show off her moves, Jamie Lynn Spears said: "I need to do something that I would normally never do."

The mother of two added that while she "grew up" cheerleading and dancing, she reached a point where she never "wanted to be seen" doing either again. Appearing on the show, she said, afforded her the opportunity to just be "bad at it."

Speaking of her partnership with Bersten, who witnessed firsthand her struggles with performing, Jamie Lynn Spears said: "It's a lot of tough love."

It was reported by multiple outlets that the Spears sisters' mother, Lynne Spears, was on hand to cheer her daughter on from the audience.