Chucky vs. Britney Spears: Revisiting 2004’s strangest horror feud
By Jeremy Dick
The real Britney Spears wasn’t a fan of the way Chucky murders an impersonator in Seed of Chucky, leading to a rather bizarre pop culture feud.
“Oops, I did it again!” – Chucky
Child’s Play 5, officially known to horror fans as Seed of Chucky, is much more of a comedy than a horror. By this point in the series, Chucky had embraced over-the-top humor, and Seed is no doubt the wackiest film of the franchise.
Though it’s chock full of silly moments, one of the most memorable is the death of pop music icon Britney Spears. In the scene (if you need a refresher or haven’t seen it), Britney — in a convertible complete with “BRITNEY1” vanity plates — cuts Chucky off on the road. When he honks at her in anger, the Oops, I Did it Again singer flashes him the finger. So our favorite killer doll responds by ramming her off the road, causing her car to explode in a ball of flames. “Oops, I did it again!” Chucky says, laughing maniacally.
Nobody’s safe from the wrath of Chucky!
It’s a humorous scene, but you know who wasn’t laughing? The real Britney Spears. According to a 2004 article from E! News, writer/director Don Mancini says things got “contentious” between the Spears camp and the Chucky camp. Though Britney couldn’t have the scene in question removed, she wanted nothing at all to do with the film — and made that very clear.
After some backlash from the Spears camp, TV spots for Seed of Chucky were edited to add in the following disclaimer: “Britney Spears does not appear in this movie.” The studio released a statement poking fun at the incident, saying Chucky still had a crush on Britney and she was welcome to screen the film at anytime (spoiler: she never responded).
The E! article also claims one of Britney’s songs, “…Baby One More Time”, was originally to be used in the film for a Chucky/Tiffany sex scene. Through her legal team, however, Spears was able to pull the song from being used in the film. One can’t help but wonder if she was traumatized from seeing Child’s Play at too young of an age.
Next: Freddy Krueger was almost a part of IT
Britney Spears may not be a Chucky fan. But for those of us that are, the good news is that Cult of Chucky has almost finally arrived! The film releases on blu-ray, DVD and VOD on Oct. 3, 2017.