Perez Hilton says he regrets the way he reported on Britney Spears after the release of the documentary

Perez Hilton has admitted he ‘regrets’ the way he reported on Britney Spears after the release of a new Hulu documentary about her turbulent time in the spotlight.

The 42-year-old blogger expressed his guilt over how he treated her breakup in 2007 and insisted he had become ‘older and wiser’ since the height of his career when he appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday.

Framing Britney Spears explores the dark side of the 39-year-old singer’s fame – describing her rise as a child star, her mental health issues and Jamie’s controversial 13-year-old conservatory, which launched the #FreeBritney movement.

Following criticism from fans, presenter Charlotte Hawkins asked if the columnist regretted any comments he had made about the musician over the years.

‘I regret a lot or most of what I said about Britney, because I’m sure Piers [Morgan] would he if he were here about things he said in the past ‘, the media personality said.

The author claims to have grown over the years when he added, “Fortunately, many of us are happily getting older and wiser.”

Angry viewers went to Twitter to see the TV star’s comments from the past, in which he called her an ‘unfit mother’ and contained T-shirts with the name ‘why could not it have been Britney?’ on his website when actor Heath Ledger passed away in 2008.

They wrote: ‘However, it went beyond bullying. I remember how Perez showed up for t-shirts and laughed with the words ‘why could it not have been Britney?’ when Heath Ledger passed away. It’s going outside bullying.

‘Perez Hilton’s comments on the Britney situation are completely inappropriate when he was the frothy cheerleader.

“It’s doubtful if it’s even a celebrity, but @PerezHilton tried to sell T-shirts when Heath Ledger died and said, ‘Why could it not be Britney? ‘and call her a disabled parent.

‘Serious question … Why was @PerezHilton not canceled for his **? … PEREZ HILTON owes Britney an apology. WE ARE SORRY BRITNEY.

‘@ GMB, it’s not good that everyone @ britneyspears apologizes now that this documentary has come out. This is the problem! I just feel so sorry that she had to deal with so much hate. @PerezHilton was one of the worst! #FreeBritney.

‘I remember going to Perez Hilton’s every day. But when the Britney stories become videos of her crying outside her house with her paparazzi to let her rest, I stop going to the site.

‘I was about 17/18 and think magazines and blogs kill her! It’s not enough to hold Justin Timberlake accountable for pushing Britney Spears’ narrative as a fraudulent GF, which he has exposed …

“But let’s not forget how terrible Perez Hilton was for Britney during her collapse in 2007. Because he mercilessly mocked her.” (sic)

Elsewhere in the interview, the TV star defended journalist Diane Sawyer after she was accused of ‘shaming’ the artist.

Perez – real name Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. – said: ‘Someone briefly mentioned in this documentary, Diane Sawyer – a respected journalist, a good woman, but many people portray her as a villain.

‘I think a lot of fans and people just want to blame this person and the person, but it’s not that simple. There are real mental health issues with Britney Spears.

‘We need to keep a mirror to ourselves, because I look back as recently as last year, Kanye West had a few [mental health breakdowns]. Last year, people did not lead with compassion to Kanye West. ‘

Britney divorced co-songwriter Justin Timberlake in 2002 after a three-year relationship, and he accused his ex of cheating on him when he released his hit track Cry Me A River.

And although the Mississippi native publicly maintained that she was still a virgin, Justin suggested that he was different in interviews after the breakup.

Britney was widely seen as the one responsible for the rift, and interviewer Diane, 75, took an accusatory tone during a previous discussion and asked her, “What did you do?”

In 2003, Britney sat down for an interview with Diane – who played a clip of Maryland’s first lady, Kendall Erlich, and figuratively says that ‘if I had a chance to shoot Britney Spears, I would think’, ‘ a remark for which she later apologized.

The veteran broadcaster apparently softly justified the harsh and shocking statement – which was made in response to Britney wearing ‘revealing’ clothes, which is said to be a bad influence on children.

MailOnline recently contacted Justin and Diane’s representatives for comment.

Justin, 40, apologized to his ex-girlfriend on Instagram earlier this month, 19 years after he publicly blamed her for their breakup and used his ‘sadness’ to promote his music.

In the long report, the Rock Your Body hitmaker said: “I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, both separately, because I care about and respect these women, and I know I have failed.”