Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock/TikTok
He's breaking down what really happened.
By John Sundholm — Written on Dec 12, 2022
And you thought your workplace drama was bad...
A TikToker claiming to be the Jack in the Box employee Britney Spears blasted on Instagram is speaking out about the incident—and it's definitely awkward.
Their interaction went instantly viral over the weekend after Spears posted an angry call-out at the employee for showing her "pity" when he noticed she was crying.
The uproar comes on the heels of a recent spate of unusual behavior and Instagram posts from the star that have sparked so much concern that Spears' husband Sam Asghari addressed it in a recent interview.
Her lashing out at the Jack in the Box employee is the first controversy to erupt since Spears deleted and then reinstated her Instagram account last week.
But though the employee says he's embarrassed by the encounter and the backlash from Spears's viral Instagram call-out, he's not holding it against her.
The Jack in the Box employee posted a TikTok video after Britney Spears slammed him online.
She may have sung some of the biggest hits in history, but even a pop icon worth some $70 million is just another customer when she's in a fast-food drive-through.
The employee detailed in a TikTok Storytime that his encounter with Britney Spears at the Los Angeles Jack in the Box where he works started out like any other.
He says that at first it didn't even register that it was the singer of hits like "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and "Toxic" who was sitting at his drive-through window.
As he put it, "I honestly did not recognize her. I did not know who she was..."
"I was like, 'Oh she looks familiar,' but I wasn't like 'Oh it's Britney.'"
And the interaction probably would have gone like any other customer service moment if not for what happened next.
The Jack in The Box employee says he witnessed Spears crying.
"As I was handing her the bag [of food], she was wiping away her tears," the TikToker said.
It was then that he made the comment that seems to have set Britney off and started this entire viral Instagram moment.
"I said something like, 'Everything's going to be okay' or I was like, 'It's gonna be okay, girl,' something like that."
He went on to say that Spears, who seemed uncomfortable with what he had said, "side-eyed" him—and he quickly realized he'd done something he'd regret.
He described feeling instantly embarrassed by his comment, saying, "I was like, 'oh my God, why the f--k did I just say that?'"
And then it all got even more uncomfortable.
The employee described that "there was this really long, big a-s line in front of" Spears so she wasn't able to drive off, forcing the moment to drag on even longer.
But through all of this, the Jack in the Box employee still didn't realize who he was dealing with—until Spears put on her sunglasses to disguise herself during the lingering awkwardness.
"For some reason when she put on her sunglasses, I was like 'Oh my God, I know who she is... That's Britney Spears.'"
And then, finally, the drive-through line moved and Spears was able to make her escape.
Spears took to Instagram to call out the Jack in the Box employee soon after.
Though the star quickly deleted the post, screenshots live on forever and fans have been spreading them like wildfire.
Spears has spoken frequently about how much her ability to drive herself places and purchase things for herself means to her since the end of her infamous conservatorship.
And in her interaction with the Jack in the Box employee, she seemed to feel like this privacy had been invaded.
She lambasted the Jack in the Box employee for showing her "pity."
She wrote, "He doesn't KNOW ME and I sure as hell didn't know his a-s. so why did he say that ???"
"It's all gonna be ok !!! I was offended."
"F--k you stupid man at Jack in The Box. You don't know me … you're not my blood so go f--k yourself !!!"
But the Jack in the Box employee doesn't hold it against Britney.
But the employee says he's still got nothing but love for the pop icon, say she was "super sweet" and that she looked "really good."
He ended his TikTok with a message for Spears.
"If you see this TikTok, Britney, please, don't be mad at me."
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.