Sam Asghari Responds After Britney Spears Calls Their Marriage a ‘Fake Distraction’

The Iranian-American model and "Toxic" hitmaker were together for nearly a decade before ending their relationship and officially terminating their marriage last year.

Sam Asghari is speaking out after his ex-wife, Britney Spears, shared some rather disheartening words about their previous marriage. The singer reflected on their marital union in a poignant post on Sunday, August 24.

"We're just people so fragile and human the hardest years of my life were my two sons gone for those 3 years [sic]," Spears began in the caption — which has since been removed — alongside a photo of herself posing nude.

"I was cut off from calling or texting and I remember in shock my secret to survival was denial and a lot of tears its weird me and Sam were married but it almost felt like a fake distraction to help me deal with it [sic]," she continued.

Spears shares her sons — Jayden James, 18, and Sean Preston,19 — with ex-husband Kevin Federline. Shortly after she posted her message, Asghari responded. "Our marriage was very real to me," Asghari told PEOPLE via his rep from BAC Talent.

"It may have been short, but we were together for seven years. I was in love with her, will always have love for her, and wish her the best always," he said.

Spears and Asghari met in 2016 and began dating not long after. They got engaged in September 2021 and tied the knot the following June. Fourteen months later, however, Asghari filed for divorce. Their separation was finalized in May 2024.