Kelly Clarkson's Latest Britney Spears Cover Sure Came At A Tense Moment

Way back in 2007, pop princess Britney Spears was having a rough time. Her marriage to Kevin Federline was dissolving, paparazzi were stalking her (she even attacked one photog's car with an umbrella), she shaved her head, and yet she still somehow managed to release the well-received album "Blackout" which spawned hits like "Piece Of Me" and "Gimme More." While this was before her conservatorship was put into place, there was a media circus swarming around the "Baby One More Time" songstress. So, when "American Idol's" first-ever winner Kelly Clarkson was asked about Spears during a radio appearance on Q100, she hypothesized that perhaps the singer's problems were all subterfuge.

"Man, but wouldn't it be funny if she's totally just screwing with everyone?" Clarkson joked at the time, adding, "I mean, think about it. She's done no press for her album, which I love, by the way. She's done no press, she just gets so much press off all this other stuff."

It turns out, Spears never forgot Clarkson's comments, and on June 8, she captioned one of her Instagram posts with a scathing critique of the "Since U Been Gone" singer. "Clarkson ... in a world where bullying has been heartbreaking, I've had my share," Spears wrote in part in a now-deleted caption, per HollywoodLife. "Can we get an AWW ??? Psss ... I'm not kidding ... play on friends, play on !!!" Now it seems Clarkson is playing on, and she's doing it Spears-style.

Kelly Clarkson pays tribute to Britney Spears

Kelly Clarkson isn't trying to front (ah ah), she knows just who Britney Spears is (ah ah), so that's why she covered Spears' 2008 smash dance track "Womanizer" on the latest episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show."  Accompanied by her house band, Y'all, the tune came in part of Clarkson's ongoing karaoke segment on her show called "Kellyoke." The official "The Kelly Clarkson Show" Twitter account even included a tribute to Spears, writing, "Celebrating Queen Britney #Kellyoke." While Clarkson didn't officially comment on Spears' scathing IG caption from June 8, this appears to be an olive branch from the "Miss Independent" crooner.

This isn't the first time Clarkson has covered a tune by the "Stronger" singer. In 2012, she covered Spears' piano ballad "Everytime," and when Spears saw it, she even tweeted at the American Idol legend, writing, "Awww @Kelly_Clarkson this is beautiful girl!" Perhaps that's what "Can we get an AWW ???" caption on her June 8 IG post was mocking. In any case, women in music are always stronger together rather than divided, so let's hope this olive branch does the trick.