Perez Hilton apologised to Britney Spears before damning documentary release

Britney Spears received a personal apology from gossip blogger Perez Hilton in December after discussing the way he exploited her infamous breakdown with his therapist.

Hilton has been under fire of late following the release of Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears, in which he boasted that when the Toxic hitmaker does badly, he does well.

Now the media personality has spoken out about the role he played in Britney's downfall, which culminated in her 2008 hospitalisation and subsequent conservatorship, insisting he reached out to the singer to clear the air, weeks before The New York Times film made headlines.

"I don't want to get into details, but I did apologise to Britney recently... actually, I'll say when - in December," Hilton shared with the Chanel in the City with Chanel Omari podcast.

"I don't need to go into details about how, but, you know, I went through this big emotional break in December," he went on.

Hilton explained he was encouraged to reach out to Britney after discussing the issue with his therapist, and indicated he feels guilty for having "wronged" the pop superstar.

"It's kind of like the things that people often do in 12-step (recovery) programmes. You know, they'll reach out to people that they have wronged and apologise," he reflected.

"And even though I had apologised before, there's nothing wrong with apologising again or differently. So I did. And she was one of the few people that I reached out to in December," Hilton added.