Britney Spears' ex-husband Sam Asghari weighs in on her DUI arrest

Edward Segarra, USA TODAYFri, March 6, 2026 at 3:52 PM UTC

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Britney Spears' ex-husband Sam Asghari is weighing in on the singer's recent arrest for an alleged DUI.

The Iranian American actor, who was married to Spears from June 2022 to August 2023, was asked about his reaction to Spears' legal trouble while doing press about the impact of the United States' growing war with Iran.

The Grammy-winning pop star was arrested by the California Highway Patrol on Wednesday, March 4, for allegedly driving under the influence, according to inmate records from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office previously reviewed by USA TODAY.

Spears was released from custody early Thursday morning. In a statement to USA TODAY on Friday, a representative for the singer said the arrest was an "unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable," adding that Spears will "take the right steps and comply with the law."

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"My focus has been on the Iran situation," Asghari, 32, said during an appearance on NewsNation. "As it goes [for] the past, I cannot skip the past. ... I think everybody makes mistakes, and everybody deserves privacy."

While Asghari declined to speak further on Spears' arrest, he added, "If we learn from history, we have to understand the press could hurt somebody recovering from a situation like this."

Asghari, who met Spears in 2016 on the set of her "Slumber Party" music video, married the singer in June 2022 after four years of dating, tying the knot in a star-studded ceremony at Spears' home in Thousand Oaks, California.

A little over a year later, the "Jackpot!" actor filed a petition to dissolve his 14-month-old marriage to Spears in August 2023, citing irreconcilable differences. "We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other, and I wish her the best always," Asghari wrote on his Instagram stories at the time.

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Britney Spears, left, and Sam Asghari attend the 29th annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on April 12, 2018.

Last August, Spears opened up about the couple's relationship in a candid Instagram post, suggesting that her short-lived marriage to Asghari may have been a coping strategy amid her estrangement from sons Sean Preston and Jayden.

"I remember in shock, my secret to survival was denial and a lot of tears," Spears wrote at the time, per People magazine and Entertainment Tonight. "It's weird, me and Sam were married, but it almost felt like a fake distraction to help me deal with it…"

Britney Spears legal trouble: Pop star arrested after alleged DUI incident

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Britney Spears arrested after driving 'erratically,' police say

Following Spears' arrest, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson told Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times that the pop star was seen driving a black BMW 430i "erratically" at high speeds on the freeway before she was booked late Wednesday.

Law enforcement also suspects Spears, 44, was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, as she was showing "signs of impairment and submitted to a series of field sobriety tests," according to the outlets.

More Britney Spears news: Singer was driving 'erratically' at high speeds, police say

Spears' arrest comes five years after her conservatorship, overseen by father Jamie Spears, was terminated by a California judge in November 2021. The singer, who was 39 at the time of the ruling, was placed under the legal arrangement at age 26 in 2008 after suffering a public breakdown the year prior that played out before the paparazzi, who captured her seemingly erratic behavior.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Britney Spears ex-husband Sam Asghari talks singer's DUI arrest

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