R+b star Rihanna has urged the media to stop criticising Britney Spears' Mtv Video Music Awards performance.

The Umbrella star believes Spears' disastrous stageshow at the Las Vegas ceremony earlier this month was the result of her not having performed much recently coupled with the stress of her ongoing child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Rihanna says, "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."