'Should've known better': Melissa Joan Hart feels guilty about taking an underage Britney Spears clubbing

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Melissa Joan Hart introspected on her decades-long friendship with Britney Spears in a recent interview.

The 48-year-old actress, who appeared in Spears’ ‘You Drive Me Crazy’ music video, shared in the interview with Entertainment Tonight that she feels guilty about taking the Grammy-winning songstress clubbing when she had just turned 18.

Melissa Joan Hart opens up about her friendship with Britney Spears

Starting her career with ‘Clarissa Explains It’ in 1991, Hart landed a part in Spears’ ‘You Drive Me Crazy’ music video a few years later. 

While working on the production, the duo did multiple press tours together which subsequently developed into a friendship.

Hart, who famously starred in ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she shared a sibling-like bond with the 42-year-old songstress.

While looking back through the clips and photos of them together, Hart shared with the outlet, “Britney and I got to do a lot of press together. And we had a lot of fun together during this time.”

She shared that she often saw the ‘Oops… I Did It Again’ singer, who was still a teenager then, feeling suffocated as she could not “break free” from the throngs of people surrounding her.

The ‘No Good Nick’ star shared, “I saw that she was just surrounded by people, never able to break free. And I was like, ‘Hey want to come?'” and convinced Spears to go clubbing with her.

Hart explained, “I would go to a club every night — I love dancing and I loved going out, but I also knew to be responsible and, like, when to stop.”

Hart’s film ‘Drive Me Crazy’ and Spears’ song ‘(You Drive Me) Crazy’ from her debut album ‘Baby One More Time’ came out around the same time in 1999, when the singer was just 17.

Hart not only headlined the rom-com but also appeared alongside the ‘Toxic’ singer in her music video.

Following her debut, Spears started gaining popularity and became a staple in Hollywood’s party scene. She was also spotted partying with Hart during those times. 

However, Hart shared that she felt rather guilty about taking the 'underage' singer to clubs and parties. 

The ‘Holiday in Handcuffs’ star recalled their first night out and admitted, “She was underage and young and — but I [was] just like, ‘Let’s go out. We’re just gonna go out and have some fun.'” 

“I feel really guilty about that still to this day because I should have known better, being a big sister,” shared Hart, per Fox News.

Britney Spears' tumultuous life

Britney Spears often created headlines through her partying ways during her teenage years. However, that was not the only time the pop star grabbed the spotlight.

Apart from her uber-successful career, the songstress also dealt with a judge-ordained conservatorship under her father Jamie, until another judge dismissed it 13 years later in 2022 following the #FreeBritney movement. 

That was not all as the singer got married to fitness enthusiast and her boyfriend Sam Asghari until the pair called it quits in 2023 just after a year of marriage.

Recently, she fell under scrutiny again when she was speculated to have a breakdown at Chateau Marmont hotel. She stormed out of the hotel room after she feared her mother set up paramedics on her. 

Recently, it has also been rumored that Spears is dating her former housekeeper and felon Paul Soliz.