Yoko Ono: Britney Spears Is a Survivor

Britney Spears has come a long way, but Yoko Ono, John Lennon's 76-year-old widow, thinks the pop star deserves more respect.

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"I think that the world was not fair to her, and they're just using her and not dignifying her," she told Usmagazine.com at the ThreeAsFour Homage to Yoko Ono on Thursday in NYC.

Up until last year, headlines bearing Spears' name reported on her bizarre psychotic behaviors, drug use, and a tumultuous custody battle with ex Kevin Federline over her two sons, Sean Preston, 4, and Jayden James, 3.

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Now, Spears, 27, is hard at work promoting her sixth album, Circus, on a sold-out international tour.

"I think she's a survivor and she's doing very well," Ono told Us.