Britney Spears raised some eyebrows on September 26 when she posted a video of herself on Instagram dancing with knives. But she explained a few hours later she was inspired by a performance by another pop star who’s famous for her dance moves.

In her original video, Britney dances while holding two sharp-looking knives. “I started playing in the kitchen with knives today  !!! Don’t worry they are NOT real knives !!! Halloween is soon,” she captioned the video.

After some people expressed their concerns about Britney waving knives around, she posted another video on September 27 in which she dances without knives. “Lighten up about the knives,” she wrote. “I’m copying Shakira.”

At the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, Shakira, who received the Video Vanguard Award, gave a lengthy performance of many of her hits. At one point, she danced suggestively with two knives, which also looked real and sharp. 

When MTV posted footage of Shakira’s knife dance, the caption joked, “There’d have to be medical personnel on SITE if I tried to recreate @shakira’s knife dance.” Fans in the comments raved about how great it was. 

By contrast, Britney’s video drew multiple comments from fans worried not only about her safety, but also the safety of her dogs, who were in the background of the video.

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