Following the release of her first new music in six years, Britney Spears has shared more details about the 13-year conservatorship she was officially freed from last November.
On Sunday (August 28), the pop star posted a 22-minute voice memo on Twitter, only to delete it hours later. As found below, the audio has since been archived elsewhere online.
The voice memo finds Spears speaking further about her family's role in the conservatorship, and the feelings that kept her from sharing her experiences in the past.
"I haven't honestly shared this openly too, as well, because I've always been scared of the judgement and definitely the embarrassment of the whole thing, period, and the skepticism and the cynical people and their opinions of what people would actually think," she admitted, adding that she is "in a place now where I'm a little bit more confident that I can be willing to share openly my thoughts and what I've been through."
Spears recalled how the conservatorship began when she was 25, recalling how she was hospitalized under circumstances she now says were "all premeditated." She recalls this incident as follows:
There was a SWAT team in my home, three helicopters. I remember my mom's best friend, and my two girlfriends, we had a sleepover the night before. They held me down on a gurney. Again, none of it made sense. Literally the extent of my 'madness' was playing chase with paparazzi, which is still to this day one of the most fun things I ever did about being famous. I don't know what was so harmful about that. I remember my mom was sitting on the couch, and she said, 'We heard people are coming here today to talk to you. We should probably go to a hotel or something.' I never really understood what she meant. I didn't believe her. Like, is a lawyer coming here? Who is coming here? Four hours later, there were over 200 paparazzi outside my house video-taping me through a window of an ambulance, holding me down on a gurney.
Spears added: "A woman introduced the idea [of a conservatorship] to my dad, and my mom actually helped him follow through and made it all happen. It was all basically set up. There was no drugs in my system, no alcohol, nothing. It was pure abuse. And I haven't even really shared half of it."
Spears credited the #FreeBritney movement with drawing attention to her situation, sharing, "The whole thing that made it really confusing for me is these people were on the street were fighting for me, but my sister and my mother aren't doing anything. To me, it was like they secretly, honestly liked me being the bad one, like I was messed up, and they kind of just liked it that way ... I think that's the main thing that hurt me. I couldn't process how my family went along with it for so long."
Of her career, she would add, "I cared so much. And they literally killed me. They threw me away. I felt like my family threw me away."
Spears expressed anger with her mother, Lynne Spears, for not helping her out of the conservatorship, saying, "I heard when reporters would call her at the time, and ask questions of what was going on, she would go innocently hide in the house and she wouldn't speak up. There was always like, 'I don't know what to say. I just don't want to say the wrong thing. We're praying for her.' I feel like she could've gotten me a lawyer in literally two seconds … Every time I made contact with a firm, my phone was tapped and they would take my phone away from me."
Lynne Spears would later respond to her daughter's claims on Instagram, writing in a photo caption, "Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! I have never and will never turn my back on you! Your rejections to the countless times I have flown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this talk is for you and me only."
Britney concluded, "I'm sharing this because I want people to know I'm only human. I do feel victimized after these experiences and how can I mend this if I don't talk about it?
"If you're a weird, introvert oddball like me, who feels alone a lot of the time and you needed to hear a story like this today so you don't feel alone, know this: my life has been far from easy and you're not alone."
Spears released collaborative single "Hold Me Closer" with Elton John earlier this month. It was also reported that the pop star signed a book deal for a reported $15 million for a "tell-all memoir" in February.
On Sunday (August 28), the pop star posted a 22-minute voice memo on Twitter, only to delete it hours later. As found below, the audio has since been archived elsewhere online.
The voice memo finds Spears speaking further about her family's role in the conservatorship, and the feelings that kept her from sharing her experiences in the past.
"I haven't honestly shared this openly too, as well, because I've always been scared of the judgement and definitely the embarrassment of the whole thing, period, and the skepticism and the cynical people and their opinions of what people would actually think," she admitted, adding that she is "in a place now where I'm a little bit more confident that I can be willing to share openly my thoughts and what I've been through."
Spears recalled how the conservatorship began when she was 25, recalling how she was hospitalized under circumstances she now says were "all premeditated." She recalls this incident as follows:
There was a SWAT team in my home, three helicopters. I remember my mom's best friend, and my two girlfriends, we had a sleepover the night before. They held me down on a gurney. Again, none of it made sense. Literally the extent of my 'madness' was playing chase with paparazzi, which is still to this day one of the most fun things I ever did about being famous. I don't know what was so harmful about that. I remember my mom was sitting on the couch, and she said, 'We heard people are coming here today to talk to you. We should probably go to a hotel or something.' I never really understood what she meant. I didn't believe her. Like, is a lawyer coming here? Who is coming here? Four hours later, there were over 200 paparazzi outside my house video-taping me through a window of an ambulance, holding me down on a gurney.
Spears added: "A woman introduced the idea [of a conservatorship] to my dad, and my mom actually helped him follow through and made it all happen. It was all basically set up. There was no drugs in my system, no alcohol, nothing. It was pure abuse. And I haven't even really shared half of it."
Spears credited the #FreeBritney movement with drawing attention to her situation, sharing, "The whole thing that made it really confusing for me is these people were on the street were fighting for me, but my sister and my mother aren't doing anything. To me, it was like they secretly, honestly liked me being the bad one, like I was messed up, and they kind of just liked it that way ... I think that's the main thing that hurt me. I couldn't process how my family went along with it for so long."
Of her career, she would add, "I cared so much. And they literally killed me. They threw me away. I felt like my family threw me away."
Spears expressed anger with her mother, Lynne Spears, for not helping her out of the conservatorship, saying, "I heard when reporters would call her at the time, and ask questions of what was going on, she would go innocently hide in the house and she wouldn't speak up. There was always like, 'I don't know what to say. I just don't want to say the wrong thing. We're praying for her.' I feel like she could've gotten me a lawyer in literally two seconds … Every time I made contact with a firm, my phone was tapped and they would take my phone away from me."
Lynne Spears would later respond to her daughter's claims on Instagram, writing in a photo caption, "Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! I have never and will never turn my back on you! Your rejections to the countless times I have flown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this talk is for you and me only."
Britney concluded, "I'm sharing this because I want people to know I'm only human. I do feel victimized after these experiences and how can I mend this if I don't talk about it?
"If you're a weird, introvert oddball like me, who feels alone a lot of the time and you needed to hear a story like this today so you don't feel alone, know this: my life has been far from easy and you're not alone."
Spears released collaborative single "Hold Me Closer" with Elton John earlier this month. It was also reported that the pop star signed a book deal for a reported $15 million for a "tell-all memoir" in February.
