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Britney Spears has been candid about her fight for freedom during her 13-year conservatorship.
Spears was placed under a conservatorship following a series of public personal struggles in the early 2000s. Spears’ power to make legal, financial, business and personal decisions were surrendered. Her father, Jamie Spears, was put in charge of his daughter’s estate and person.
During that time, the pop star continued to make music and performed at her Las Vegas residency. However, interest in Britney’s conservatorship grew in 2021 when Hulu released “Framing Britney Spears” which was presented by The New York Times. The Free Britney movement was born online, which led to Britney taking legal action to end the conservatorship after more than a decade.
A judge terminated Britney’s conservatorship in November 2021.
“Good God I love my fans so much it’s crazy!!! I think I’m gonna cry the rest of the day!!!!” she wrote via X at the time. “Best day ever … praise the Lord … can I get an Amen???? #FreedBritney.”
Five years after the conservatorship ended, Us Weekly confirmed in March 2026 that Spears was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Ventura County, California.
Keep scrolling to see what Britney has said about getting her freedom back since her conservatorship ended:
The Emotional Toll of the Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
During a June 2021 hearing, Britney Spears opened up about how living under conservatorship impacted her mental health.
“I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK, and I’m happy. It’s a lie,” she said. “I thought, just maybe, if I said that enough, maybe I might become happy, because I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, ‘Fake it till you make it.’ But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry, it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day.”
Britney Spears Wants Her ‘Life Back’
Britney Spears shared while testifying in court that all she wanted was to live for herself.
“I just want my life back. It’s been 13 years, and it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money,” she told the court in June 2021. “And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested. … I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world, and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them.”
How Britney Spears Lost a Piece of Herself During the Conservatorship
In her bestselling memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney Spears opened up about how she lost her sense of self during the conservatorship.
“In my old life I’d had freedom: the freedom to make my own decisions, to set my own agenda, to wake up and decide how I wanted to spend the day,” she wrote. “Even the hard days were my hard days. Once I gave up the fight, in my new life, I would wake up each morning and ask one question: ‘What are we doing?’ And then I would do what I was told.”
Spears added that following the instructions laid out for her left her feeling robotic.
“I became a robot. But not just a robot — a sort of child-robot. I had been so infantilized that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself,” she reflected. “The conservatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child. I became more of an entity than a person onstage. I had always felt music in my bones and my blood; they stole that from me.”
Britney Spears Came ‘Back to Life’ After Getting Her Freedom
Britney Spears reflected on how she felt once she was freed from the conservatorship.
“Freedom to do what I want to do has given me back my womanhood,” she wrote in The Woman in Me. “In my forties, I’m trying things for what feels like the first time. I feel like the woman in me was pushed down for so long. Now, finally, I’m roaring back to life”
Since the conservatorship ended, Spears told fans her No. 1 priority was living life to the fullest.
“When I regained my freedom, that was my cue to step out onto dry land – and, any time I want, to take vacations, sip a cocktail, drive my car, go to a resort or stare out at the ocean,” she continued.
