Drew Barrymore is celebrating her friend Britney Spears following the pop legend’s wedding to Sam Asghari.
The Drew Barrymore Show host, 47, took to Instagram on Friday to share a touching post that honored Spears, 40, and her journey, which included the end of her 13-year conservatorship overseen by her father, Jamie Spears. Along with a series of photos from the joyous dance floor at the Thursday wedding, Barrymore drew from her beloved 1998 film Ever After to honor Spears.
“What I learned from Ever After is that we must rescue ourselves and yet still want the fairy tale,” Barrymore wrote, alongside a series of photos which included herself, Spears, and Selena Gomez enjoying themselves at the reception. “And that’s exactly what Britney did! I couldn’t not be happier for her intrepid journey !!!!!!!”
Additional photos and videos from the reception posted by Barrymore featured appearances by everyone from Madonna to Paris Hilton, as well as Donatella Versace, who designed Spears’ wedding gown. There was also a video of the group singing along to Madonna’s legendary hit “Vogue,” as well as a video of The Santa Clarita Diet star attempting to take a glamorous photo while the wind whipped through her hair.
“I tried to do a ‘pretty girl’ video and I just can’t stop getting hair stuck in my mouth,” Barrymore explained in the video, which featured her strutting her stuff in a brown Valentino gown.
Barrymore has been a frequent supporter of Spears over the years. Back in May, she spoke to Variety about her desire to have the pop icon on her talk show following her release from her highly controversial conservatorship.
“We can have a unique conversation,” explained Barrymore, who was put in a mental institution by her mother, Jade Barrymore, as a teen. “There’s not a ton of us out there who have publicly lost our freedom, had breakdowns in front of everyone, become punchlines and fought our way back.”
Before Spears was released from her conservatorship, Barrymore explained that she would send the pop star “personal videos” to help encourage her throughout her court battle. The videos featured “encouragement and just telling her that I think she is the key to her freedom,” the actress previously told ET.
“[I wanted to] really show her I’m someone who has understood what a journey is like,” she said at the time, “and I don’t compare myself to her, but I’m here to support her if there’s anything she needs in private.”
In her 2015 memoir Wildflower, Barrymore explained that she was “out of control due to working since I was 11 months old and what that had done to my childhood, which made me grow up too fast.”
She found the sense of stability that was lacking in her home life in her film career. “Work was a very positive thing in my life, and sadly it had been taken away, because my mother also put me in an institution because she felt helpless. But when people found out, they just wrote me off as damaged goods, and I sadly understood that,” she explained.
Clearly, the adoring feelings between Barrymore and Spears are reciprocal. Back in April, Spears raved about Barrymore’s beauty, as well as that of actress and longtime friend Kate Hudson.
“I’ve met 1000s of celebrities in the business … but I have to say the 2 people where I literally went speechless were @katehudson and @drewbarrymore,” Spears wrote in an Instagram post, which has since been deleted. “They are by far the 2 most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life !!! Like shocking !!!”
