Update, Monday, August 29: In tweets posted after deleting her 20-minute voice memo about her conservatorship, Britney Spears offered a tiny correction. “It was 6 small vials of blood not 6 gallons !!!” she tweeted to concerned fans, referring to her weekly blood work during the conservatorship. She also wrote about her experience working with Elton John on “Hold Me Closer,” perhaps hinting at a return to music. “Complacency has always been a boring tactic that feels safe … music … creation … producing is where my heart lies and lifts me with inspiration !!! I’ve had the opportunity to work with someone who is beautiful and kind on all levels …” she continued. “I’m honored and I feel loved 💕 by his awareness and acknowledgement, not by only my involement [sic] with a song but by my struggles and what I’ve been through !!! He knows the hardships of the world on a bigger scale.” It may not be Instagram, but she left us with a dance video anyway, set to Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow.”
Original story published August 28 follows.
While Britney Spears was initially excited to tell her story in a sit-down interview with someone like Oprah Winfrey back in November 2021, she instead decided to do it herself on YouTube on Saturday night. In a now-deleted 20-minute audio message, Spears shared details about her conservatorship and how difficult it was to try to get help. She explained that when she was forced to go to a mental-health facility in 2019, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Her father, Jamie Spears, allegedly told her: “You don’t have to go, but if you don’t go, you will have to go to court, and there will be a big trial. And you’re gonna lose. I have way more people on my side than you, you don’t even have a lawyer.” Britney expanded on her struggles in getting legal representation, claiming her phone would be “tapped” when she would call and try to meet with counsel. Eventually, an unnamed friend helped her find a lawyer.
Britney also described herself as a “machine” during her Las Vegas residency and how she wasn’t allowed to object to anything in the creative process. When she said no to a dance move, “[My family] got pissed. I feel like the scare tactic and how badly they treated me in the end, I think they thought I was gonna come begging back to work. Cause they thought I needed them.” Despite having so much to say about her conservatorship, she decided to create her own platform to share her history instead of using someone else’s, even if that person is Oprah. “I get nothing out of sharing all of this,” concluded Spears. “I have offers to do interviews with Oprah and so many people. Lots and lots of money but it’s insane, I don’t want any of it. For me, it’s beyond a sit-down, proper interview.”
