Britney Spears has lived her entire adult life in the spotlight, for better or for worse.
At the end of 2020, fresh concern was sparked for the singer's mental well-being.
Unfortunately, it's not the first time the pop star has sought refuge from turbulent
times.
This is Britney Spears' tragic real-life story.
"There's a lot that people don't know about me that I want them to know."
Britney Spears once told People that she was actually thrilled when her parents, Lynne
and Jamie Spears, divorced in 2002, saying:
"It's the best thing that's ever happened to my family.
[...] I wanted this to happen 10 years ago."
The Mirror reported that Jamie struggled with alcoholism.
Jamie's brother Willie told the outlet that Jamie would frequently get drunk and fight
with Lynne, and that Jamie once, quote, "tried to drive off with Britney" after an argument.
Lynne reportedly filed for divorce, and even tried to get a protective order against Jamie
after she alleged he'd cheated in December 1979, but the divorce filing was withdrawn.
Sources told The Mirror that Britney performed to escape her troubled home life.
Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib explained to The Sun:
"Her childhood was centered around becoming a star and I feel she is determined to give
her kids a real childhood, unlike what she had."
"The only thing Jamie ever said to me was 'My daughter's gonna be so rich, she's gonna
buy me a boat.'
That's all I'm gonna say about Jamie."
When Spears failed to win the Best New Artist Grammy in 2000, she was hurt, largely in part
because she so badly wanted to please her parents.
She told Rolling Stone:
"My mom wanted me to win so bad.
And my dad.
I felt kind of sad that I let them down.
And then I talked to them, and they were worried for me.
My mom said, 'Baby, I could care less if you win or not.
I love you.'"
Spears also admitted that she often felt lonely and torn between her Kentwood, Louisiana upbringing
and her Hollywood lifestyle, and said she appreciated being reminded that she was so
young at the time:
"It makes me feel good when people realize I'm just a kid, because people expect so much
out of me right now."
Spears' discomfort with fame hasn't exactly faded with time.
She said in 2013 that she believes she thrives under pressure, but that she felt, quote,
"alienated from the public" when she was constantly hounded by paparazzi.
She also revealed:
"I'm a shy person and I'm particularly not really made for this industry because I am
so shy.
It's not something I deal with so well."
In her 2000 Rolling Stone profile, it was revealed that Spears had just "one hour of
scheduled quiet" to herself each day.
Part of her public breakdown, a friend of the singer told Rolling Stone in 2008, stemmed
from never having downtime to learn who she was.
"For years, everyone manipulated Britney.
[...] If she didn't want to come out of the trailer, the label would come to me, saying,
'Please talk to Britney, make sure she performs, and we'll take you on a shopping spree.'
Now this is her time to play."
Another anonymous friend noted that even when there were discussions about giving Spears
a break, quote, "the machine always won."
Her team was reportedly so controlling that they even picked out her underwear and lip
gloss in an effort to maintain her sexualized yet virginal image, her pal alleged.
In 2002 Spears told Rolling Stone that she wanted freedom to go to Starbucks and pump
her own gas with assistants or bodyguards around, adding:
"I'm supposed to take six months off, but I probably won't.
The whole point of me taking a break is to be out of the public eye and not see my face
on TV, because I'm sick of myself."
"You can't always be out there, you know?"
Two years earlier, she told the magazine:
"My anxiety has just been crazy.
[...] Maybe I'm just changing and getting older, but I find I need to have my downtime,
just to myself, or I'll go crazy."
In 2000, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were the pop power couple.
After they split, however, Timberlake used his "Cry Me A River" video to strongly hint
that she cheated, which Spears denied to People.
Timberlake also dished on their sex life and publicly dissed Spears several times.
"Justin Timberlake is in the house, and I just wanna ask you one question.
Did you f-- Britney Spears?"
According to E! News, an attorney for the Spears family revealed in 2012 that her family
noticed Britney grew depressed and angry after she and Timberlake split, which they claimed
led her on a downward spiral.
Post-JT, Spears married childhood pal Jason Alexander for 55 hours in December 2003, only
to annul the union immediately.
"Honestly, I really wanted to see what it would be like to be married."
Alexander later told ABC News that despite them both allegedly being intoxicated at the
time of their impromptu Las Vegas wedding, he believed they were in love with each other.
In 2016, Us Weekly reported that Alexander spent four months behind bars in 2015 for
a domestic violence incident with his then-girlfriend, so it seems like Brit dodged a bullet.
In 2013, Spears ended her engagement to manager Jason Trawick, with TMZ reporting that Spears
wanted more kids while Trawick didn't.
Other sources claimed he was stressed over having to care for Spears and needed a partnership
with more equal footing.
She rebounded in 2014 with David Lucado, who was accused of cheating on her, then with
Charlie Ebersol, with whom it simply didn't work out.
As of early 2021, Spears is dating model and trainer Sam Asghari.
They've been together since 2016.
Spears had a whirlwind marriage to dancer Kevin Federline in 2005, with whom she shares
sons Sean Preston and Jayden James.
However, the end of the marriage was traumatic for them both.
Sources told Rolling Stone that she began dating Federline because he was a backup dancer
for ex Justin Timberlake, and she wanted to spite him.
The outlet also reported that Federline encouraged her to fire most of her team, including mom
Lynne and longtime manager Larry Rudolph.
A friend told Rolling Stone that Federline often ditched her for his friends, making
her feel abandoned and lonely.
She reportedly turned to partying to cope with her sadness, which a pal said she blamed
on postpartum depression.
Spears filed for divorce from Federline in November 2006, which he told Us Weekly blindsided
him.
Spears went on to say in November 2008:
"I think I married for all the wrong reasons.
Instead of following my heart and, like, doing something that made me really happy.
I just did it because [...] for just, like, the idea of everything."
"It just led me on a weird path."
Spears and Federline engaged in an ugly custody battle for their sons post-split.
Rolling Stone reported that in accordance with the former couple's prenuptial agreement,
Federline got a cool $1 million from Spears, plus $20,000 a month in child support for
the boys.
In 2007, Spears' ex-bodyguard alleged that he saw her abusing drugs, though he noted
that he never saw her use drugs around her kids.
People reported that the singer was ordered to undergo random mandatory drug testing as
part of her custody arrangement with Kevin Federline.
It wasn't until 2012 that the public learned exactly which drugs Spears was allegedly using
during that period.
E! News reported on a lawsuit between her father, Jamie Spears, and her former manager,
Osama "Sam" Lutfi.
The outlet stated that Jamie's team alleged that Sam told the Spears family that he had
been crushing up Britney's pills, and hiding the medication in her food.
Jamie also accused Lutfi of hiding Britney's phone, and encouraging paparazzi to trail
her.
Lutfi, meanwhile, alleged that Spears abused amphetamines and that he was just trying to
keep her safe and clean.
In 2015, Star reported that Spears secretly went to rehab to battle an addiction to the
prescription drug Vyvanse, which is typically prescribed for ADHD.
"How old were you when you started your career?"
"Well I started like really taking it seriously and being in a lot of competitions when I
was eight years old."
In February 2007, Spears shaved her head, an act experts believed was her "acting out"
against the public pressure and restrictions she's had since becoming a star.
According to a Life & Style timeline of the tumultuous period, Spears checked into a Malibu
rehab center, left after less than 24 hours, then checked in again, staying for a month.
Upon her exit, she blamed a manager trying to control her post-divorce for her behavior.
In the following months, Spears embarked on an allegedly dangerous streak of behavior
that included a hit-and-run of a parked car, and driving without a valid California driver's
license.
In September 2007, she attempted a disastrous comeback at the MTV Video Music Awards; a
month later, she lost custody of her sons to Federline.
In January 2008, Spears engaged in what ABC News described as "a nearly three-hour custody
standoff involving her young sons," while allegedly "under the influence of an unknown
substance."
She was removed from her home and hospitalized on an involuntary psychiatric hold, then released.
Weeks later, she was committed again.
A source close to Spears told E! News that the singer's failed marriage triggered her,
explaining,
"She had worked so hard and yet she had nothing to show for it.
No husband, no access to her kids, a fractured relationship with her family and what she
felt was no say in her life.
She felt worthless."
During Spears' marriage to Kevin Federline, however brief it was, she dedicated most of
her time to caring for their sons and didn't work much — and it seems like she wouldn't
mind going back to that lifestyle.
"I just want to be a happy person."
The singer admitted to NME in 2016 that she'd considered quitting the music industry to
be a teacher, and she told People a big incentive to her Las Vegas residencies was the time
it offered her to be with her sons.
Even ex David Lucado admitted that Spears couldn't care less about her entertainment
career compared to being a mom, telling The New York Times:
"If anyone knew the real Britney, they would know that she would rather be remembered for
being the great mother she is rather than the artist she is.
And if anyone could see her interactions with her kids, they would know that there is no
need for a conservatorship over Britney's personal life."
Because Britney Spears relies so heavily on her father, when Jamie Spears fell ill in
late 2018, she took it hard.
Britney hit the brakes on her planned Domination Las Vegas residency.
Jamie reportedly suffered a ruptured colon and was hospitalized for nearly a month.
People reported that Jamie underwent a second surgery in March 2019.
In April 2019, it was reported that Britney checked into a mental health and wellness
treatment center.
A source told Us Weekly:
"Britney was distraught when her dad first got sick.
Then there was a period where she was handling it better and feeling more positive because
Jamie seemed to be improving, but then his condition worsened and she couldn't emotionally
handle the thought of potentially losing him.
It was her breaking point."
Insiders clarified to E! News that Britney wasn't being treated for any sort of substance
abuse issues at this time and simply needed rest and to focus on herself — and that
her sons can visit her at the facility.
"You know, you do something wrong and you learn from it, you move on.
But it's like I'm having to pay for it for a really long time."
After Britney Spears' breakdown, her father, Jamie Spears, was named her conservator, placing
him in charge of her vast fortune and all financial decisions.
According to The New York Times, the pop star initially opposed the idea of a conservatorship,
but eventually came around to the idea for the sake of securing future financial stability
for her two young sons.
A source close to the singer told Page Six:
"At the height of her fame, Britney was taken to a place where she couldn't be a normal
person.
It was very difficult for her to trust people — and she has always relied on her dad to
help her do 'normal' things."
About a decade later, that arrangement fell apart.
According to Blast, after Jamie's 2018 health scare, he temporarily granted control of the
conservatorship to a professional named Jodi Montgomery.
By the summer of 2020, Britney and her lawyer filed paperwork to make Montgomery her permanent
conservator.
A few months later, TMZ reported that the elder Spears had also made some decisions
of which his daughter didn't approve, including hiring a new business manager without giving
her any input in the matter, which Britney's lawyer said was part of an attempt by Jamie
to, quote, "retain full functional control of" his daughter's money.
Her trust in her father apparently flagging, Britney sought out Bessemer Trust to serve
as sole conservator, but a judge would only allow that agency to co-lead, alongside Jamie.
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