In early March, Britney Spears was arrested on suspicion of a DUI, after she was caught swerving in and out of traffic and behaving recklessly in her BMW. She was hospitalized then taken to jail overnight. She will be in court in early May and no one knows what the California courts will do about Britney at this point. Her conservatorship ended in 2021, and while all of us wanted Britney to be freed of the conservatorship, many of us also wanted to ensure that there were some guardrails to protect Britney and protect everyone else from Britney. So much of the legal system is all or nothing though – there’s no halfway-guardianship or “conservatorship-lite.” Well, Us Weekly’s cover story this week is all about Britney and how she’s really been doing since her conservatorship ended. It’s a pretty rough read.
Britney’s next steps: “It’s a delicate situation,” says a source. “Everyone around Britney wants her to be healthy and stable, but you can’t force her to do anything.” Spears’ family and friends were bracing themselves for something bad to happen prior to her arrest, says a second source. Spears showed “signs of impairment” after she underwent a series of sobriety tests by the California Highway Patrol on March 4, and was booked into the Ventura County Jail for “driving under the influence of a combination of drugs and alcohol.” (Chemical tests were pending as of press time.) “It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ she would get arrested,” the source says, adding that loved ones “are just relieved no one was hurt.”
She’s gone from bad to worse in recent months. “She spends a lot of time alone at home, which leads her to make bad choices,” says the first source. “She has this tendency to think she’s kind of invincible, especially since she’s been free from the conservatorship. For a while, she felt like there were no real consequences, but lately, it’s started to catch up with her.”
Popping pills in Mexico: In her 2023 memoir, The Woman In Me, Spears said she “never had a drinking problem” and that her “drug of choice” was Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD symptoms. “[Pills] are her real vice,” says the second source, noting that when Spears’ conservatorship was terminated, she stopped being drug tested, and that’s when “she started falling back into old habits.” Adds the source: “She’s been privately struggling with it for two to three years now.” The first source says things began to escalate when she started spending long stretches in Mexico. (Spears celebrated her last two birthdays in Mexico; in a December 2024 video she posted to Instagram, she said she’d moved there to escape paparazzi attention in the States.) “That environment wasn’t good for her,” says the first source. “She had access to all kinds of pills, and there wasn’t anyone really keeping things in check.” Adds a third source: “It’s not a safe place for her because there’s a lot of access to over-the-counter things. Who knows what she is getting and how it’s making her act.” Another insider says that her trips to Mexico raised alarm bells even in 2024 as she’d been “going to the pharmacy there for pills, including Adderall, because it’s more accessible than in the States.”
What happened after she divorced Sam Asghari: The source said Spears changed for the worse when she started dating her former handyman Paul Richard Soliz soon after she and Asghari, 32, parted ways (another source told Us at the time that she’d cheated on Asghari with Soliz). “[That’s when] she began going downhill,” said the source. Spears and Soliz, who has a criminal record, ended their on-off relationship in early 2025 after sources told Us her inner circle had been pushing her to stop associating with him.
On Kevin Federline’s memoir: Spears, says a fourth source, was “deeply upset” about Federline’s assertions but notes that his book “wasn’t the catalyst” for her recent spiral. “It didn’t help matters, but her issues predate it.”
To their credit, Us Weekly quoted various guardianship and conservatorship experts and lawyers about what could be done and whether Britney needs something like that again. Those experts didn’t really have the answers, because so much of it is contingent on what Britney would agree to and whether she would stick with any program or guardian. There’s also a big, looming question over what the court will do about Britney’s DUI, given her history. I don’t know, I really don’t. Britney has rights and agency and she fought long and hard for her freedom, but I keep coming back to this: what happens if and when she hurts someone? That, more than the DUI, will be what really changes things.
Photos courtesy of Britney’s Instagram. Cover courtesy of Us Weekly.
She needs a conservatorship. Just not the one she had. A legal guardian appointed by a court and closely supervised by that court. I guess there’s a difference between a guardianship and a conservator but that can be sorted out also by a court. It was always predictable that just liberating her after years of tight control would lead to disaster. And here we are.
No, she does not need to be in a conservatorship. A lot of her problems now are because of the conservatorship!
I think I said that. “It was always predictable that just liberating her after years of tight control would lead to disaster.” Unless she voluntarily submits to the intensive therapy and rehab she obviously needs, she is going to harm herself or others. What is the alternative to get her the help she so desperately needs? I am not a believer in forcing people to do things against their will unless they are a danger to themselves and others. The main issue with the first conservatorship was that her abusive father controlled it. He had a conflict of interest given that he saw her as his cash cow. A proper legal framework (no relatives involved) can and should be set up and she should have full legal representation for her interests to protect against further abuse.
A substance abuse problem combined with access to cars automatically makes her a danger to others. She’s going to hurt somebody. And then they will rightfully sue for all the music catalog money.
I agree, Brassy Rebel, she needs someone who cares about her enough to find a group of qualified professionals, none of whom have ever worked with Britney, or anyone related to her, to form as advisors for her conservatorship. Doctors, lawyers, therapists, hell, she would be enormously helped by someone just getting her out of the house every day to do something normal, like volunteering at [insert ANY good cause her, except for animals, because she becomes a hoarder, which is yet another addiction). She would do really well at a Women’s shelter, where she gets to interact with people who have really gone through stuff that she can’t relate to, just to get her out of her own head.
Does she even have an “inner circle” at this point? Does ANYONE care about her at all? I really don’t know.
She can be put into a conservatorship AFTER even ONE rich middle aged man, or rich 30-something man, is put into a conservatorship, like Shia LaBeouf, Charlie Sheen, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, etc.
Brittany was hurt for years. By her family, by the legal system, by the industry and by the psychiatric system.
I don’t know if she will ever be able to trust any of it again. Not enough to actually involve any of them in any sort of healing process.
The system is so all or nothing. I have no idea what could be done to help stabilize or help her.
She’s been a danger to herself for so long. And now it’s clear she’s a danger to others as well.
I wish we had more compassionate and empathetic options for healing in this country, available to the legal system.
As always – I wish her healing and peace.
She has the resources that your average person who struggles with addiction and/or mental illness does not. The issue isn’t that there’s no help for her, the issue is that she doesn’t appear to want the help. I wouldn’t be surprised if friends and family have tried to intervene but she’s isolated herself presumably to avoid the possibility of an intervention.
She got a DUI in Los Angeles county for the first time. I don’t that people get how common that is here. Almost everyone I know got one or two to be honest before the Uber days. She made a mistake what she needs is a designated driver. I feel bad for her I felt so bad when I got mine at 19 and even the cops were like “this isn’t the crime of the century just make better choices “ she is a good person and doesn’t deserve to be racked over the coals over every human mistake. It’s her first offense she will get probation and no jail time. That’s what is going to happen her.
@Kitten – that is exactly key when it comes to staying in recovery from addiction. You must want it for yourself. Even if you enter into it for other people at first, eventually you do need your internal motivators to be louder than your external ones or it won’t stick. Speaking as someone who is now gratefully in recovery who didn’t actually want it on my first try and relapsed.
@ S- Congrats on your sobriety and I completely agree: if you don’t want it for yourself and you feel like you’re doing it to make others happy, you’re bound to relapse, sadly.
@Wow-you were 19 and Brit is 44 years old. There’s being a dumb and reckless teenager who doesn’t understand consequences and then there’s being a middle-aged mom of two boys who really should know better. And that’s to say nothing about the fact that BOTH of you could have killed someone with your actions. No, I don’t think she should get a life sentence for a DUI but I also don’t think anyone should downplay how serious a DUI is. People die because someone couldn’t or wouldn’t drink responsibly–it is deadly serious.
Wow, in 2007 she was charged with a misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a license.
Additionally, it sounds like this DUI wasn’t just intoxication by alcohol, it was a mix of drugs and alcohol.
@tiffany I do see your point but those are not the same. This is not a pile of charges. Those were moving violations and if she didn’t get that much in consequences for that this is much less. She didnt get another moving violation is my point this is a separate thing and it will be treated separately. That was almost 19 years ago too so any lawyer can get that sorted out. I stand by what I said. She needs a driver and for people to back off and help not judge her. Two traffic incidents int span of 20 years ?
We see over and over how child stardom scares people for life. Justin Beiber is still struggling but seems to have a good support system and enough self awareness to get help. Unfortunately Britney has neither and tragedy seems the most likely outcome at this point.
ITA about child stars but I feel like Britney had it especially bad. She had this bewildering virgin/whore dichotomy forced on her in early puberty. Her horrible family didn’t cause her bipolar disorder, but they didn’t offer appropriate support either.
The sister who got pregnant at sixteen and retreated from public life has fared better. What does that say?
All this talk about conservatorship and guardianship for Britney doesn’t sit right with me.
When done properly, that system can really work and be beneficial. Like Amanda Bynes. She was under a conservatorship for nine years with her mother as the conservator after her mental health and behavior got out of control. Instead of drugging Amanda and making her perform so mom could get paid, they seem to have worked within a therapeutic environment. When she stabilized, her mom supported the petition to end the conservatorship and it ended. (yes there have been some issues with Amanda, but mental illness is never a straight path, the point is she was actually helped by the conservatorship). It was all done properly and very low key.
Britney’s family did the exact opposite with her, which did not help her and made her mental health, in my opinion, worse.
But it can be done right.
Me neither.
Right!!!
You don’t just severely restrict a persons right’s because they are addict.
Sometimes addiction happens because that person is trying to mask severe mental illness. I have nothing but sympathy for her but I don’t know if she is “just” addicted or if there is more going on. It’s super difficult, and if she hurts herself or someone else, folks will ask why no one intervened earlier. And if someone intervenes now, it may well be unwarranted. There are no easy answers, especially since none of us know the truth.
Agree. Because why Britney but not Kanye, Bieber, and so on? Misogyny. That’s why.
Yes this is a tabloid but I appreciate that they used a nice picture of Britney instead of snatching a screen grab of her IG twirling videos or a mug shot.
All legitimate therapies, psychiatric and medication, have been weaponized against her for so long and so hard I don’t think she can trust the process, build a bond, and work within those systems to help herself.
Her family is a non starter as they all spent their lives profiting off her, especially within the conservatorship – which made her into a circus animal instead of helping her.
She needs rehab but again with the trust thing.
I agree with you that “ all legitimate therapies, psychiatric and medication have been weaponized against her”!! So now when she really really needs this kind of help she trusts none of it and doesn’t want or believe that she needs that kind of help. It’s a truly sad situation and I believe that it’s going to get worse.
Rehab usually isn’t run by qualified mental health professionals.
I don’t know her and am not going to pretend that I know what is going on specifically with her. I’m pretty certain, however, that I would be dealing with severe PTSD/C-PTSD if I had gone through what she did. Self-medication is very common in those circumstances. Been there. Done that.
It can take years to unravel and heal from a single trauma. She has them stacked like cordwood.
Who knows, maybe this arrest will be the catalyst for something positive.
Well, if she ends up hurting somebody, prison is a kind of conservatorship.
I don’t see how she is going to get better unless she has some structured program. I don’t know what or who can help her as I agree with above commenters that her father’s conservatorship probably has her never trusting psychiatric help or even a conservatorship under an impartial party ever again. She is clearly very alone and very lost. I don’t want this to end badly but it isn’t looking good.
I’m always rooting for Britney and hope there is a way to help her help herself.
Aside from the DUI and potentially hurting other people, it’s really none of our business how she wants to live her life. We may not like it, we may worry about her and want a better support system around her, but that is no one’s choice but Britney’s.
Men go off the rails with drugs and mental illness all the time, there are too many to list, and yet no one seems to demand they need a conservatorship. The double standard is so sickening and rooted in misogyny.
Yes!
I came to write this.
Am I sorry for her ?
Yes. I have been rooting for her for ages.
I thought that marrying Sam Ashgari wasn’t the best idea, but he seemed to ground her (and he did, actually he hasn’t said a word on her, I am confident there must be an iron clad non disclosure agreement, but who knows)now she is on her own, for the first time after a trauma…she is unstable,
I think or she hit the bottom hard, and comes out on her own, just like Lindsay Lohan did, or the end would be really bad…I am sorry for her children. She is an adult, we should stop infantilizing her.
In 2009, a judge stated about Britney, “Based on the evidence presented, the court finds that there is a habitual, frequent, and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol”.
She’s had addiction issues for years, and people don’t want to believe it. The public has different kinds of sympathy for mental health illness in comparison with substance issues. Because accountability plays such a large role in recovery from substance abuse, I think dodging acknowledgment and responsibility in that area has probably hurt her progress. I hope she accepts the help that she needs.
If someone asked me in 2015 who would be in a better place in 2026 Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan. I would have thought Britney. I would have lost that bet.
I just see this as a very mentally ill women who does not think she is sick. That manifested in her 20’s like so many others that suffer from being bipolar or schizophrenia. And if she does not actually have ADHD or is overmedicating herself. As a I understand the Adderall just feels like speed. She likes the rush and if she is with a shady guy that can get her coke or other drugs for that rush. Its just a really bad combination for disaster.
I don’t think she needs a conservatorship. Which as I understand it’s really reserved as an example for someone in a coma to make decisions on their behalf. While they are incapacitated. It is also meant for short term not 13 years.
I think she could live a good and healthy life if she commits to sobriety and not use drugs or alcohol to self soothe. And stick to her medication plan and therapy.
I honestly don’t know who is the person that can get through to her now. I really hoped that lawyer that freed her. Would have some good influence on her. But it seems he did his job and dipped out.
I would also love to know who encouraged her to sell her catalog. What cut she got and who benefited the most from it. That never smelled right to me. She’s only 44, if someone badly invests it or steals it like Kathy Ireland is going through right now. She will lose everything. And she does not have the education or financial acumen to handle it.
I am still rooting for her and hope things turned for her with the DUI arrest. As a wakeup call her life is out of control.
Anytime I’ve seen her talking she seems to be arrested in a very young phase of development. It would be very hard to use any talk therapy to work with her. From the state she’s in she does not seem to have insight into her own condition. I doubt that she can develop that. It is therefore important to have people in her life that can protect her best interests and help to navigate a safe lifestyle for her given her addiction and cognitive state.
I think that is the horrifying truth. Whatever happened to her created some deficits that I don’t think can be regained. She needs so much help—something that a caring family member and a solid network of caregivers and providers could provide. I just don’t think there is a central figure there that exists that could coordinate that for her.