Britney Spears opens up about conservatorship, Justin Timberlake breakup, drugs and alcohol | 10 takeaways from her memoir

The New York Times, which obtained an early copy of her memoir, reported that in the book, she reflects on the sensation of constantly being in the public eye, under excessive scrutiny from her parents, the paparazzi and even doctors. Here are 10 key takeaways from Britney’s memoir:

1. 01

   Break-up with Justin Timberlake

   Describing her relationship with Timberlake as magnetic, Spears recollected that their breakup, which she claimed he initiated via text message, left her "devastated", nearly propelling her to the brink of quitting show business. Slamming his music video “Cry Me a River”, wherein “a woman who looks like me cheats on him and he wanders around sad in the rain,” Spears accused the media of portraying her as a “harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy”. She wrote, “I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood.”

2. 02

   Diane Sawyer interview post breakup with Timberlake

   Following the breakup, Spears revealed that she was compelled by her father and management team to take part in an interview with Diane Sawyer. During the interview, Sawyer pressed her about what she had done to Timberlake that had allegedly caused him "so much pain".

3. 03

   Drugs and alcohol

   She also mentioned finding solace in partying and nightlife while being papped constantly. “It was never as wild as the press made it out to be,” she commented about being photographed alongside peers like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Spears also noted that she had no interest in hard drugs and “never had a drinking problem.” “I am willing to admit that in the throes of severe postpartum depression, abandonment by my husband, the torture of being separated from my two babies, the death of my adored aunt Sandra, and the constant drumbeat of pressure from paparazzi, I’d begin to think in some ways like a child,” she added.

4. 04

   The conservatorship

   “I know I had been acting wild, but there was nothing I’d done that justified their treating me like I was a bank robber,” Spears wrote in her memoir. “Too sick to choose my own boyfriend and yet somehow healthy enough to appear on sitcoms and morning shows, and to perform for thousands of people in a different part of the world every week,” Spears added.

5. 05

   'Pushbacks were frowned upon'

   Spears mentioned that from that point on, when the conservatorship was enforced, she began to think that her father saw her as a cash cow. Any pushback by Spears was frowned upon, ignored or minimised.

6. 06

   Beginning of the end

   While Spears had occasionally resisted the conservatorship in private without success, she attributed the beginning of the end of the agreement to conflicts with her father in late 2018. During this period, she was subjected to additional mental health evaluations and spent over three months in rehab.

7. 07

   #FreeBritney movement

   It was there, in a $60,000-per-month Beverly Hills rehab facility, that Spears said a nurse showed her clips of fans representing the viral #FreeBritney movement that was questioning her conservatorship.

8. 08

   On the removal of her father as her conservator

   Reflecting on the removal of her father as her conservator, just before the termination of the entire arrangement, Spears wrote, “I felt relief sweep over me." “The man who had scared me as a child and ruled over me as an adult, who had done more than anyone to undermine my self-confidence, was no longer in control of my life.”

9. 09

   A possible comeback?

   With the newfound freedom to create once more, the singer expressed that she lacks the motivation to do so, though she did reference a one-time collaboration with one of her musical inspirations, Elton John, released last year.

10. 10

    'It’s time to actually find myself'

    “Pushing forward in my music career is not my focus at the moment,” Spears wrote. “It’s time for me not to be someone who other people want; it’s time to actually find myself.”

(With inputs from NYT)