Rihanna sticks up for Britney Spears

Rihanna has stuck up for troubled singer Britney Spears in the face of media criticism over her performance at this month's MTV Video Music Awards.

Spears received a backlash when she performed her arguably disastrous comeback at the opening of the ceremony with new song 'Gimme More'.

But the 'Umbrella' singer has defended Spears and blamed the pressure that was on her for the embarrassing show.

Rihanna said: "You can't judge her performance without knowing what was going on with her personally. She had so much pressure for that one performance.

"I'm telling you, it's not easy being on that stage. I performed for a minute and a half, and I was extremely nervous.

"To have the amount of pressure that Britney had? I don't know what I would've done. She did her best, so leave her alone."