Amanda Kloots of The Talk slams Diane Sawyer’s 2003 interview with Britney Spears

Amanda Kloots was seething on Monday’s episode of The Talk as she dug in to Diane Sawyer’s infamous 2003 television interview with Britney Spears.

The 38-year-old fitness instructor–turned–talk show host lambasted Sawyer’s intrusive questions about Spears’ sexuality and said she didn’t think an interview like that ‘would even be allowed today.

The interview was brought up again in the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears, which premiered on FX on Friday and was also available to stream on Hulu.

Her cohosts were already visibly emotional after discussing the documentary before Amanda opened up about Sawyer’s interview.

‘I watched this the other night and I was shocked,’ she began. ‘I don’t think that the interviews that you see on this documentary would even be allowed today. Like, you wouldn’t be able to say what these people are asking her and telling her.’

She continued: ‘I think Diane Sawyer owes her an apology. I think the whole world owes her an apology.’

Kloots, whose husband Nick Cordero died last year from complications of COVID-19, emphasized she could only speak about what the documentary had included.

‘But it’s heartbreaking to see what this poor girl went through and how she couldn’t go anywhere without being attacked.’

Britney was just 22 when she sat down with Sawyer, who asked questions that seemed to blame the pop superstar for her split from Justin Timberlake.

‘You broke his heart. You did something that caused him so much pain, so much suffering. What did you do?’ the legendary journalist asked.

Sawyer was referencing rumors that Spears had cheated on Timberlake, whom she dated from 1998 to 2002.

His solo hit Cry Me A River, a breakup song featuring a blonde woman resembling Spears, helped fuel the controversy.

Spears’ fans took to social media after the documentary aired to blast Timberlake’s behavior in the wake of their breakup. 

Sawyer also asked Spears about a comment made by Kendel Ehrlich, who was married to then-Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich.

During a 2003 conference on domestic violence, the former First Lady of Maryland seemed to blame Spears for teaching women to not focus on schooling and to be dependent on men, before saying, ‘You know, really, if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would.’

In the interview, Sawyer seemed to defend that violent comment.

‘It’s because of the example for kids and how hard it is to be a parent,’ she said. 

Kloots also criticized another interview for asking the young singer about her breasts.

Sharon Osbourne was among Spears’ defenders on set.

‘She has always seemed very young to me anyway, but there she was a baby; she was just a little girl,’ she said. ‘And it’s like, it doesn’t seem appropriate to talk to a little girl with that tone.’

Elaine Welteroth, who joined the Talk at the same time as Kloots, was also on the same page.

‘I think there is no excuse for badgering a teenage girl about her love life on national television like that, and that a woman did that, and that is, was acceptable,’ she complained. ‘And it just makes you reflect on how toxic our celebrity culture was, and probably still is.’

She added that many women saw the interviews at the time but may not have realized how misogynistic they were.

Welteroth said the version of Spears featured in her contemporary Instagram posts is a ‘completely different person’ from the young singer being interviewed in the Framing Britney Spears documentary.

‘We participated in the meltdown and the breakdown of Britney Spears. I think it’s high time that somebody shines a light on that.’ 

Spears is currently in the midst of a protracted legal battle with her father Jamie Spears as she tries to remove him as her conservator.

Her father was given complete control over her assets in 2008, following the singer’s public breakdown.