A photographer has caught pop star Britney Spears on film smoking a cigarette, after she’s been preaching for years that she was against the habit.
The 20-year-old singer once told the News-Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn., “I don’t believe in drugs or even smoking. I believe in God.”
The New York Post is carrying the photo today showing the singer, dressed in short-shorts, apparently turning her back to the photographer.
The paper quotes the singer’s spokeswoman as issuing a “no response” when asked whether Britney’s smoking might encourage her young followers to light up.
Spears has been challenging her good girl image by wearing more revealing clothing and performing more provocative stage shows.
She told the Associated Press in 2002, “I’m on stage, I’m performing; Janet (Jackson) wears clothes like that, Destiny’s Child wears clothes like that – like everyone! And I was always pinpointed. I never understood that.”
Her albums, “Baby One More Time,” “Oops…I Did It Again” and the most recent release “Britney” all went platinum.