Pop singer Britney Spears opened up about her longtime conservatism in a 22-minute audio message posted online Sunday.
Spears’ Twitter account posted a link to a YouTube video that contained the audio but not the picture, according to Variety. The tweet has since been deleted and the YouTube video has been made private, but the audio has been posted elsewhere on YouTube. Spears’ message partly covers the hardships experienced during her conservatorship and the pain caused by family members who failed to stand up for her. She also says she believes the conservatism was “premeditated.”
Spears’ father Jamie and others controlled aspects of the singer’s personal life and finances under surveillance that lasted 13 years. A Los Angeles judge terminated the guardianship in November after Jamie was removed from his role as guardian of Spears’ estate.
In the audio message, Spears describes the day it all began, including when “there were over 200 paparazzi outside my house filming me through the window of an ambulance holding me down [gurney].
“Now I know it was all premeditated,” Spears said. “A woman pitched the idea to my dad and my mom actually helped him execute it and made it all happen. Everything was basically rigged. There were no drugs in my system, no alcohol, nothing. It was pure abuse. And I haven’t even shared half of it.”
Spears later recalled her experience of performing in Las Vegas while under conservatorship.
“I got to a point, you know, because [of] my pride in my 30s, I have to live by my father’s rules,” Spears said. “And you know, the dancers play and drink and party the night away in Vegas. And there was nothing I could do. And I remember just being like, my performances that I know were terrible… Honestly, I just didn’t care anymore. Because I couldn’t go where I wanted… I couldn’t have money and it was just demoralizing.”
She also talked about the Free Britney movement and how her mother, Lynn, and sister, Jamie Lynn, failed to stand up for her.
“The whole thing that made it really confusing for me is that these people are on the street fighting for me, but my sister and my mom aren’t doing anything,” Spears said. “To me, it was like secretly they genuinely liked me being the bad guy, 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 judge how my family was doing with him for so long.”
Lynne Spears appeared to respond in an Instagram post on Sunday.
“Britney, all your life I have tried to support your dreams and desires!” writes the post by Lynn Spears. “… Your rejections of the countless times I’ve flown and called make me feel hopeless! I’ve tried everything. I love you so much, but this conversation is just for you and me, face to face, alone.”
Representatives for Jamie Spears did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Movies coming in 2022 from Marvel, Netflix, DC and more
See all photos