The woman whose marriage ended after her husband embarked on an affair with Britney Spears in 2008 is sharing her story.
The pop star shocked her fans and family when she began dating paparazzo Adnan Ghalib in 2007, despite the fact that he had long been on her tail hunting for the perfect photo.
Unbeknownst to Spears at the time, Adnan was married.
The photographer had been wed to AzLynn Berry for five years when he began seeing Spears. They split up shortly after the alleged affair came to light.
Speaking with Us Weekly, AzLynn revealed she was ‘grateful’ Spears’ involvement with her husband ultimately led to the end of their marriage.
Azlynn Berry, whose ex-husband Adnan Ghalib embarked on a three month affair with Britney Spears in 2008, says she is ‘grateful’ to the singer for helping remove her husband from her life
Spears began dating Ghalib during her divorce from Kevin Federline, but she insisted in her memoir she was unaware he was married until after they split; pictured 2008
‘I’m so f**king grateful that, for whatever reason, this unbelievable person walked into my husband’s life and removed him from mine,’ she said.
The relationship between Spears and Ghalib began in late 2007 when Spears was divorcing Kevin Federline – Ghalib was snapping photos of the singer when she jumped into his car in an attempt to evade other photographers.
Ghalib began working with Spears but insisted to his then-wife they were merely friends.
At the time of the affair, Berry insists their marriage was at a ‘high point’ and says ‘it was the closest we had ever been’, adding they were ‘definitely still married’ when the relationship began.
Berry claims Ghalib informed her he was attempting to help Britney in a role that mirrored a personal assistant.
‘Britney was aware of the incoming conservatorship,’ Berry said. ‘He told me a lot of intimate details [about her] … even mental health stuff.’
It wasn’t until January 2008 that Berry learned the truth behind their relationship.
The alleged affair had been going on for around three months when a photo of them kissing in a parking lot in Santa Barbara was published.
Berry filed for legal separation from Ghalib on January 18, 2008 before her ex filed for divorce in June of that same year
‘I’m pretty sure I called him, yelling and screaming. I probably texted him 50 times and waited for him to come back,’ she recalled of confronting him. She added the discovery was ‘extremely traumatic.’
Once the extramarital relationship came to light, Berry filed for legal separation from Ghalib on January 18, 2008 before he filed for divorce in June of that same year.
Spears addressed the alleged affair in her memoir, The Woman In Me, insisting she was unaware Ghalib was married when they were together.
Without naming Ghalib directly in her memoir, she wrote: ‘I didn’t know then that the photographer was married; I had no clue that I was essentially his mistress. I only found that out after we’d broken up.’
Berry said Britney’s father Jamie ‘was trying to inform Britney of my existence. [But] if you have a choice between listening to someone who has kind of ripped away your identity and the hot guy with a thick accent that’s willing to treat you like a human being, you’re going to get what you want out of it.’
Spears pictured in 2018
‘He was very charismatic. I was never going to leave Adnan,’ she said.
‘[Britney’s] presence was the catalyst that was strong enough to end the marriage, and I’m actually very, very grateful. I know for a fact that I would’ve killed myself if I stayed in a toxic relationship,’ Berry said.
Britney split from Ghalib in 2008. Her father Jamie also successfully won a restraining order to keep Ghalib away from her by claiming that the photographer alerted paparazzi to Britney’s whereabouts and then got a fee from them.
Spears dated numerous other men in the years to follow before saying ‘I do’ again in 2022 – she married Sam Asghari, but they ultimately split in 2023.
Spears addressed the affair in her memoir, The Woman In Me, insisting she was unaware Ghalib was married when they were together
After her memoir was published, Adnan spoke with The Sun, insisting he had been separated from Berry for three years before he got involved with Spears.
‘My wife and I were not divorced, but we had been separated for three years,’ he told the outlet last year.
‘I didn’t live with her for that time, I was 100 percent single.’
‘After we were kept apart, people in Britney’s life during the conservatorship wanted to make out that I’d lied and cheated on her, which I didn’t.
‘It was easy to paint me as a villain.’