Way before MTV's 16 & Pregnant aired. Britney Spears little sister shocked Nickelodeon and the world back in 2008. Jamie Lynn Spears was the center of news media controversy as her teen pregnancy story unfolded. We take a look back at the pop culture shock.
Teen Mom
0:00 Intro
0:13 Britney Spears
0:52 Jamie Lynn Spears
1:58 Zoey101
3:35 Teen Pregnancy Backlash
5:20 Zoey101 Ends
6:38 Outro
Teen Mom
0:00 Intro
0:13 Britney Spears
0:52 Jamie Lynn Spears
1:58 Zoey101
3:35 Teen Pregnancy Backlash
5:20 Zoey101 Ends
6:38 Outro
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00it was one of the biggest scandals that shook the entertainment world a child star that was
00:13put at the center of attention and created a stream of controversy and headlines let's
00:19take a look back at the very interesting story behind the madness before pop stars like Lady
00:26Gaga or Katy Perry there was a mega star who managed to top the charts time and time again
00:32and of course it's Britney bitch Britney garnered a wide audience of fans with her hit songs and
00:40music videos even her personal life became an interest to many star quality talent seemed to
00:48run in the Spears family and Britney's younger sister Jamie Lynn would also pursue a career
00:54in the entertainment world some day I'm gonna be there just wait and see
01:05instead of singing she had her sights set on being an actress soon would come a big opportunity for her
01:12as some of their original stars were aging out showrunners saw an opportunity with the younger
01:26Spears sister who was chasing the spotlight Jamie Lynn would be cast as a regular for their highly
01:32popular sketch comedy show hi I'm Jamie Spears and I would love to be a cast member of all that after a
01:42few successful seasons where her performance was well received like many other Nickelodeon stars she
01:49was approached to be the lead in her own show the new series would come to be centered around a
01:55teenager named Zoe that attended a co-ed boarding school so first day the new boarding school living
02:05on your own away from home it's okay to be nervous I'm not nervous it was a smash hit for the network
02:13and it seemed like they made the right choice by going with the younger Spears sister originally
02:19most of the audience tuned in because of her affiliation with Britney regardless of what made
02:24them first tune in the show's quality would make them stick around viewers enjoyed the stories being
02:31told they liked the characters and also adored Jamie Lynn's portrayal as Zoe she finally was able to
02:38step outside of her older sister's shadow hello Jamie Lynn Spears how are you on the show everybody's
02:44talking about how much they love the show everybody that I talk to loves the show teenagers are going
02:49crazy over this right um yeah I hear it's pretty popular yes it is you should pay attention that
02:55stuff I don't know it is it's very popular over time the show would develop a cult-like following
03:00the series won a number of awards and was even nominated for an Emmy for outstanding children's
03:07program the early success also resulted in a popular video game being released everything
03:14seemed to be going picture perfect for the blossoming star and the network but it all came to an abrupt
03:20halt after filming season four of the very popular show the now 16 year old announced that she was
03:29pregnant pop star Britney Spears teen sister is pregnant Jamie Lynn is having a baby Nickelodeon must be
03:38furious I mean what was she thinking she's pregnant she's having a child she just reported it to okay
03:46magazine and we picked up on the story so more news for the Britney Spears family you got to think
03:51about that mother in this situation apparently Jamie Lynn hadn't even told Britney yet now she knows I guess
03:56who's dad uh the dad is her longtime boyfriend or should they've been together for a little while
04:04they met in church um and that's the father her career is done reckless how careless no one will know
04:12her in six months this was a shocker to everyone and caused a ton of bad publicity for Nickelodeon
04:21headlines were all over newspapers and magazines shaming her major news networks like CNN held debates
04:30teen pregnancy would become a hot topic for the following weeks and months many reactions from
04:37teens that watched the show were of disappointment because on the show she was portrayed as a wholesome
04:41good girl and her real-life teen pregnancy painted her in a different light due to the extreme
04:49controversy some parents even demanded Nickelodeon not air the fourth season of the series which was
04:57already filmed and just awaiting its premiere date Nickelodeon responded to the backlash shortly after
05:03stating that the network respected her decision to take full responsibility for her actions
05:09and noting that their primary concern was for her well-being the fourth season did in fact air as planned
05:17and had even bigger viewership numbers than before the numbers grew exponentially thanks to all the
05:23publicity garnered from the scandal throughout the season the controversy continued to brew the fourth
05:31season would break records for viewership but it also would be its last supporters assumed the show
05:37would have continued for a new season if Jamie Lynn didn't get pregnant the backlash surrounding Jamie and
05:44the network seemed to be too much at the time today she insists the teen pregnancy had nothing to do
05:50with why the show ended she says her plans were to pursue bigger acting roles instead of continuing on with the
05:57highly successful show many fans disagree as her career never took off following the cancellation
06:04Jamie Lynn did in fact reprise her role as Zoe years later for the Paramount Plus streaming service
06:11what do you think was the controversy the reason the show ended did the media overreact leave a
06:41comment below and let me know