If you didn’t know, when a bunch of people are genuinely convinced that something that never happened, well, happened, it is called the Mandela effect. The phenomenon got its name after it was discovered that many people falsely believed that Nelson Mandela was dead several years before he actually died in 2013.
Other examples of false memories that huge groups of people genuinely believe to be real can be found in the form of popular brand logos and names. For example, did you know that footwear company Skechers has actually never been called “Sketchers”? Or that there’s not a cornucopia in the Fruit of the Loom logo?
And it goes without saying that there are also tons of examples of Mandela effects in pop culture: Pikachu’s tail has never had a black tip, Shaggy never had a protruding Adam’s apple in Scooby Doo, and Hannibal Lecter never says the words: “Hello, Clarice” in The Silence of the Lambs.
Heck, many people quote that famous Star Wars line as “Luke, I am your father,” when the correct quote is simply: “No, I am your father.”
And another example of a pop culture Mandela effect is Britney Spears’ “Toxic” music video, which was released in 2004. If you visualize it in your mind, you probably have a vivid memory of Britney wearing an obvious sheer bodysuit that has been covered in diamonds in the video.
However, in a 2016 interview with British talk show host Jonathan Ross, Britney actually revealed that the diamonds had been stuck directly onto her body — the sheer bodysuit in our collective memory never existed.
“That’s not actually an outfit,” Britney told the presenter at the time. “Those are just hand diamonds painted on me. Well, glued on me.”
Jonathan couldn’t hide his shock at this revelation, asking: “Wow, were they glued on your body? Or on a bodysuit?” Britney confirmed: “Glued on my body,” and when Jonathan double checked: “On the skin?” she said that this was indeed the case.
If you’re wondering, when asked how she got them off after the shoot, Britney admitted: “I don’t remember what I did.”
Needless to say, this snippet blew minds when it was shared on social media, with many commenters insisting that they remember seeing a body suit.
It has been theorized that Britney’s jewelry in the video gives the illusion of sleeves and a neckline, which fueled the widespread misconception.
It was also pointed out that Britney often wore a sheer bodysuit covered in diamonds for her live performances of the song, which could have added to the Mandela effect:
In the music video, Britney appears to be completely naked aside from the jewels and a tiny thong as she writhes around on the floor, and this process was previously documented in a behind-the-scenes Making Of special that aired on MTV in the early ‘00s.
In this footage, both Britney and the video’s director, Joseph Kahn, make repeated reference to the fact that Britney will be nude — with it also being confirmed that this was entirely her idea at the time.
Describing the look, Britney says: “There are jewels all over my body, there’s nothing actually on underneath. There’s makeup and jewels everywhere.”
Joseph adds: “When I do certain videos, I try to make sure that there’s an image that you take of that artist and that will be seared into your subconscious mind. It’s one that Britney came up with herself, and it’s pretty ballsy because she actually has to be completely naked to do the shot.”
Later in the episode, Joseph shoos the MTV cameras away from the set as he explains: “Right now we are going to go shoot the jewel set, but you’re not allowed in there because Britney is going to be completely naked except for a couple of jewels covering certain parts of her body.”
And once that shoot had wrapped, Britney came out of the set wearing a robe, telling the cameras: “I’m sorry you guys couldn’t be back there, I had nothing on underneath, I just have a bunch of diamonds glued all over my body so it’s a really intimate sexy moment.”
And while Joseph undeniably did get his wish of creating an image from that music video that was still seared into our subconscious more than 20 years later, he probably didn’t expect the vast majority of us to completely misremember the shot in question.
But hey, at least it gives us all an excuse to rewatch “Toxic”! Did you remember that Britney was naked in the video? Let me know in the comments below — and be sure to share any other celebrity Mandela effects, too!
