Britney Spears is ready to tell her story in her words.
The pop icon opens up about her journey to superstardom and the personal challenges she’s faced along the way in her anticipated memoir, “The Woman in Me.”
According to excerpts obtained by People, Britney sheds new insight on the headline-making 2007 incident in which she shaved her head. Though tabloids framed the moment negatively at the time, Britney reportedly explains that she was simply trying to reclaim control in her life after feeling scrutinized as a vulnerable young celebrity.
“I’d been eyeballed so much growing up. I’d been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body, since I was a teenager. Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back,” she writes in her new book.
The following year, Britney was put under a court-ordered conservatorship that gave her father, Jamie Spears, legal authority over her finances, healthcare and more. According to People, Britney claims in her book that the arrangement required her to maintain a certain look and lifestyle and that her shorn locks were not permitted.
“Under the conservatorship I was made to understand that those days were now over. I had to grow my hair out and get back into shape. I had to go to bed early and take whatever medication they told me to take,” Britney writes.
Britney continued finding professional success despite her unhappiness behind the scenes. She launched her blockbuster “Piece of Me” Las Vegas residency and dropped multiple hit albums throughout the conservatorship but she had reportedly lost her drive for music and performing.
“I would do little bits of creative stuff here and there, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore,” she writes. “As far as my passion for singing and dancing, it was almost a joke at that point. Thirteen years went by with me feeling like a shadow of myself.”
The 41-year-old reportedly goes on to explain why she believes her situation was also rooted in sexism, writing, “Think of how many male artists gambled all their money away; how many had substance abuse or mental health issues. No one tried to take away their control over their bodies and money. I didn’t deserve what my family did to me.”
Britney’s conservatorship was dissolved in November 2021, months after the singer delivered explosive testimony that she believed the arrangement was abusive and controlling.
That September, Britney scored a major victory when the judge in the case ordered Jamie to be suspended as the conservator of her estate. Jamie’s legal team later filed a request to have the conservatorship dissolved immediately. Jamie has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing.
“The Woman in Me” is available for pre-order before its Oct. 24th release wherever books are sold.
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