A new audio message posted on YouTube Sunday afternoon gave an in-depth look at Britney Spears’ conservative side in a 22-minute video that sparks bombshell allegations against her family.
The video has only sound, but no image, and does not show the singer’s face talking to the camera. The video, which was quickly made private and no longer available to the public, was originally posted on YouTube with a link shared on the pop star’s Twitter account. (Spears’ Instagram was recently deactivated, and in recent days, she’s been posting more regularly on her Twitter.)
Variety reached out to a rep for Spears to verify the authenticity of the YouTube message.
“I woke up this morning and realized there’s a lot going on in my head that I haven’t shared with anyone,” Spears says in the video.
In the audio message, Spears says she’s been offered other interview opportunities, including Oprah and others, but decided it’s best to share her story herself. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities…but I’m here to open myself up to others and shine a light on it,” Spears says. “I have nothing to share… I have offers [for] lots and lots of money… for me, it’s beyond a seat, a proper interview.”
The star – who recently released a single with Elton John, ‘Hold Me Closer’, marking her first music since ending her Conservative tenure – explains that she was too scared of the crisis to honestly share her side of the story, but now she believes it is vital to share her thoughts in the hope of helping others. She then dates the conservative position from her own perspective.
“Honestly to this day, I don’t really know what I did,” he says. “But my father’s punishment, not being able to see anyone or say anything … none of that made sense to me,” Spears says, referring to her father, Jamie Spears, who was her conservator for the majority of 13 years judicial regulation. (Spears’ father was suspended from her conservatorship in September 2021, and about a month later, the conservatorship was finally terminated.)
Spears explains that the beginning of the conservatory was very confusing for her, but claims that both her mother and father were involved in the creation of the conservatory and believes that everything was “premeditated”. He claims that “a woman introduced the idea to my dad and my mom actually helped him and made it all work.” Recalling the night it all started, she says that suddenly “there were over 200 paparazzi outside my house filming me through the window of an ambulance holding me against a garage.”
“It was all basically set up. There were no drugs in my system. No alcohol. No, nothing. It was pure abuse,” says Spears. “And I haven’t actually shared half of it.”
Spears says she clearly remembers “my father’s control.” She says, “He liked to control everything I did.”
Spears’ new audio message echoes many of the claims she previously made in court about her father and the probation service, telling a judge that being controlled, sent to a facility, forced labor and touring, she was not allowed to she drives her own car or hangs out with her friends and was watched by people in her home who forced her to donate blood and watched her change naked. (Spears first testified bombshell in June 2021, then testified again about “preservative abuse” in July 2021.) Spears also says in the new message that her phone was tapped, so she didn’t feel comfortable or safe asking aid .
“I was told I was fat every day,” Spears says. “They made me feel like nothing and I kept it up.”
Speaking about her ‘Circus’ tour in 2009, Spears discusses how she felt alienated from her friends and dancers who could go out to drink and socialize after concerts, and claims her father forbade her to does the same. He says he knew “my appearances were horrible” but couldn’t do anything about it because “I was a robot, honestly. I didn’t pay any attention.”
“It was discouraging,” says Spears. “You also have to understand, it’s been like 15 years of touring and performing. And I’m 30 years old, living under my dad’s rules. And while all of this is happening, my mom is witnessing it, my brother, my friends — they’re all going.”
Spears often talks about her family and at one point says that she is angrier with her mother, Lynne Spears, than her father because she felt that her mother could have helped her find a lawyer, but instead he would hide when reporters called to ask. for the singer.
“How did they do it? And what the hell did I do to deserve this?’ says Spears.
Spears is addressing the #FreeBritney movement, her fans who fought for her for 13 years, and said early on they believed the singer was being held against her will. The movement has held constant rallies and supported the star outside the courthouse throughout her legal battle.
“The whole thing that really confused me is that these people are fighting on the street for me, but my sister and my mother aren’t doing anything,” Spears says. “To me, it was like they secretly really liked me being the bad guy – like I was messed up, and they kind of liked it that way. Otherwise, why wasn’t he outside my doorstep saying, “Baby, get in the car. Let’s go.'”
He adds, “I think that’s the main thing that hurt me. I couldn’t process how my family was doing for so long… their only answer was “We didn’t know.”
“How the hell did they do it? How does god exist? God exists;” an emotional Spears says in the message. “I was so weak… I was scared, I was broken. I’m sharing this because I want people to know that I’m only human… how can I fix this if I don’t talk about it?’
Throughout the years, through lawyers, Spears’ father and mother have both denied any wrongdoing, saying they love their daughter.
Spears talks about the moment things started to change for her, eventually leading to the end of her conservative tenure, explaining that she had a friend who introduced her to a lawyer, Mathew Rosengart (whom she doesn’t mention by name, but talks very well. her lawyer). “I finally got a lawyer,” Spears says. “And it really helped me get through it.”
Spears says that much of her “trauma” came from working so hard and feeling that in return, her family didn’t care about her. She referred to an allegation she testified about in the past, saying she was punished for once speaking up about a dance move she didn’t like in rehearsal. She also says she was forced to go to AA meetings, even though she was not an alcoholic, and was forced to spend hours and hours of therapy.
“How much effort, work and heart I put into what I did when I was doing work, even down to the details of how many rhinestones are going to be on my costumes. I care so much. And they literally killed me,” Spears said. “They dumped me. That’s what I felt — I felt like my family threw me away.”
He continues, “I was playing to thousands of people a night in Vegas, the rush of being a performer, and then the joy, the respect, shaking hands with over 40 people a night before a show, training a week, three sessions a week, meetings AA, therapy sessions… I was a machine. I was a fucking machine. Hardly even human. It was crazy how hard I worked. And then once I speak up and say ‘no’ in a rehearsal to a fucking dance move, they’re pissed.”
Spears says she hopes people listening don’t feel alone. And she shares her excitement about her new song with John (which has been topping the charts worldwide since it was released last Friday.)
“I have an amazing song right now with one of the most brilliant men of our time and I’m so grateful,” Spears says. “But if you’re a weird, introverted weirdo like me, who feels alone…and you needed to hear a story like this so you wouldn’t feel alone, know this: My life hasn’t been easy at all, and you’re not alone.”
Spears was placed under a court order in 2008 by her father, who was her sole breadwinner for most of 13 years. The conservatorship ended in November 2021. Despite the singer’s newfound freedom, her legal team’s battle has remained messy without a resolution on either side, with the most recent hearing taking place last week.
On Sunday night, Spears’ mother, Lynne Spears, posted an old photo of the two laughing together with the caption directed at Britney.
“Brittney, all your life I’ve tried to support your dreams and desires!” she wrote. “And also, I tried my best to help you out of trouble! I will never turn my back on you! Your rejections of the countless times I’ve thrown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this speech is just for you and me, up close, in person.”
