Singer Britney Spears, who became a worldwide star in 1999 with hits such as Oops I Did It Again and Baby One More Time and has since gone on to sell over 240 million records, performed in front of a 55,000-strong crowd at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park earlier this week.

But the singer’s arrival in Israel has been fraught with curious misreporting and unruly crowds.

In an item entitled ‘Britney Spears causes chaos in Jerusalem’ entertainment trade journal Variety reported that the Toxic singer’s attempt to visit a number of holy sites within the city, notably the Western Wall, was aborted after large crowds formed making it impossible for Ms Spears’s security team to guarantee her safety.

Britney Spears' arrival in Jerusalem has created chaos forcing her to cancel her meeting with the prime minister pic.twitter.com/m6mEg5Qm1p

— ㅤㅤㅤㅤ (@TheGloryBritney) July 2, 2017

Ynet News quotes a member of the star's entourage as saying; “Hundreds of people jumped on her, and she decided to cancel it all.” 

The Ynet report also alludes to a planned meeting between Ms Spears and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which was supposedly cancelled as a result of the Jerusalem incident.

However, Haaretz asserts that a date for the meeting had never been finalised, and that Ms. Spears has expressed some displeasure at the misunderstanding.

The Prime Minister’s Office also issued a statement saying that said the meeting had never been confirmed, but at the same time denied issuing a statement saying that Spears had cancelled the meeting.

Harretz’s review of the concert itself suggests that it was a dispiritingly modern affair:

Both Spears and the vast audience contributed to the mutual disappointment. Many in the crowd chose to take in the pop star’s show while gazing mainly at their cell phones, composing future posts or rehearsing the next day’s office chatter. And whenever Spears came physically closer to her fans, the phones got whipped out en masse, instantly erecting a huge curtain comprised of tens of thousands of screens that blocked the view of what was happening on stage.

I’ve had such an amazing time performing in Asia over these last few weeks!! One final stop in Tel Aviv on Monday!! pic.twitter.com/vd5QfjipMC

— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) July 1, 2017