The “Toxic” singer was recently arrested on suspicion of a DUI.

What to know about Britney Spears’ past controversies and legal woes

The "Toxic" singer was recently arrested on suspicion of a DUI.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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March 5, 2026 4:26 p.m. ET

Britney Spears' has been the subject of several controversies and legal woes. Credit:

Steve Granitz/WireImage

Britney Spears is back in the news.

On March 3, 2026, the pop icon was arrested in California on suspicion of a DUI, according to PEOPLE. The arrest follows the deletion of Spears' Instagram account, where she regularly shares strange clips featuring eccentric behaviors that have concerned some fans.

The Grammy winner has been the subject of intense media scrutiny throughout her career, which spans more than 30 years. Amid multiple marriages and family disputes, Spears was also at the center of a controversial conservatorship, in which her father, Jamie Spears, wielded control over her career, finances and personal affairs.

The conservatorship ended in 2021, but controversy continues to follow the "Toxic" singer, with ex-husband Kevin Federline making incendiary allegations about her in his memoir amidst more family drama.

Below, we break down the pop star's myriad of controversies.**

She was on the Disney Channel star before achieving pop stardom

Britney Spears performing in her "Piece of Me" tour. Kevin Mazur/BCU18/Getty Images

Spears was just 11 years old when she starred alongside the likes of Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and future boyfriend Justin Timberlake on *The All-New Mickey Mouse Club*. A few years after leaving the show, the Kentucky-born singer struck gold in 1999 with the single "...Baby One More Time" and its namesake album, which has been certified platinum 14 times over.

Spears continued to dominate the charts with albums like *Oops!... I Did It Again* (2000), *Britney* (2001), and *In the Zone* (2003). All told, she's released nine studio albums, six of which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 150 million records worldwide, per Billboard. Her many accolades include a Grammy Award, a Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Amid her pop cultural dominance, she led the Shonda Rhimes-written film *Crossroads* (2002), hosted *Saturday Night Live* twice, and guested on series like *The Simpsons *(2000) and *Will & Grace* (2006).**

Several tabloid incidents impacted her image in the mid-2000s

Britney Spears with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in 2006. bauer-griffin

In 2006 and 2007, Spears displayed erratic behaviors that drew outcry and concern in the media, including an incident in which she was photographed driving with her young son, Sean Preston, on her lap. According to Spears, she was trying to flee paparazzi.

"I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm’s way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us, and took photos of us which were sold to the media. I love my child and would do anything to protect him," reads her statement at the time.

Around that same time, she was spotted partying with celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, prompting concerns about substance abuse. According to the *Los Angeles Times*, Spears was ordered to take mandatory drug tests twice a week after a Los Angeles County court commissioner said there was evidence that she was “a habitual, frequent, and continuous” user of drugs and alcohol.**

She was further pilloried in the press following a February 2007 incident in which she shaved her head in a California salon and later attacked a paparazzo's vehicle with an umbrella. Later that year, she was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving a vehicle without a license, per the *Los Angeles Times. *The charges were later dropped.

Britney Spears' arrest records list an unusual job description

Jamie Lynn reflects on 'complicated' relationship with big sister Britney Spears

Spears addressed this period in her 2023 memoir, *The Woman in Me, *stating that she never had a problem with alcohol. Her "drug of choice" was Adderall, which, she writes "made me high, yes, but what I found far more appealing was that it gave me a few hours of feeling less depressed."

The shaved head and umbrella incident, she said, happened while she was "out of my mind with grief" over a death in the family and an ongoing custody battle with Federline, whom she divorced that year.****"With my head shaved, everyone was scared of me, even my mom," she recounts in the memoir. "Flailing those weeks without my children, I lost it, over and over again. I didn't even really know how to take care of myself."

She adds, "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 was placed under a conservatorship in 2008

Britney Spears (left) and her father Jamie Spears (right). Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images; VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

In February 2008, a judge placed the 26-year-old Spears under a conservatorship with her father, Jamie Spears, and attorney, Andrew M. Wallet, serving as the conservators. This arrangement, which lasted 13 years, gave Jamie power over Spears' professional and personal life, as well as her sizable fortune.

The conservatorship was unusual, both for how long it persisted and how active Spears was during that time. Between 2008 and 2021, when the conservatorship ended, she released four albums, served as a judge on *The X Factor*, toured the world, and performed a Las Vegas residency.

By 2019, the same year Spears went on an indefinite work hiatus, fans started the #FreeBritney movement, which aimed "to end the conservatorship of Britney Spears, raise awareness about conservatorship abuse, and advocate reform of the probate court system." A 2021 FX documentary about the conservatorship, *Framing Britney Spears*, further raised awareness about the arrangement.

In 2020, a lawyer for Spears told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that the pop star was "afraid of her father" and would not perform again if he remained in charge of her career, per AP News.

"I just want my life back," she told a judge the following year. "It's been 13 years and it's been enough."

She added, "It makes no sense to make a living for so many people and be told I'm not good enough, that I'm great at what I do and I allow these people to control what I do, it makes no sense at all."**

Spears was 39 when a judge finally released her from the conservatorship in November 2021.**

She’s had a strained relationship with her family

Kevin Federline and Britney Spears.

George Pimentel/WireImage for Ogilvy Public Relations

In 2008, Federline was granted sole custody of the two children he shares with Spears. The pair were married from 2004 to 2007.

In his 2025 memoir *You Thought You Knew,* Federline claims that Spears drank while breastfeeding their children, cheated on him with a female dancer, and would watch their sons sleep while holding a knife.

"It's become impossible to pretend everything's OK," he writes in the memoir. "From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we're getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don't change, and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces."

In a statement to **, a representative for Spears responded to the allegations by saying, "With news from Kevin's book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin. All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this sensationalism. She detailed her journey in her memoir"

Britney Spears with her sons, Sean Federline and Jayden James Federline, at the premiere of 'Smurfs 2'.

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Spears also addressed Federline's book in a post on X on Oct. 15, 2025, saying that the "constant gaslighting from ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting," adding, "Trust me, those white lies in that book, they are going straight to the bank and I am the only one who genuinely gets hurt here."

In that same post, Spears said she'd only seen one of her sons for "45 min in the past 5 years." She's only had "4 visits in the past 5 years" from her other son.

"Sadly, they have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by own father for me," she added. "They need to take responsibility for themselves."

** reached out to representatives for Spears and Federline for comment at the time.

In December 2025, Spears spent Christmas with Jayden while Sean Preston celebrated the holiday with her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears.**

Where is Britney Spears now?

Britney Spears on Instagram and on a red carpet.

Britney Spears/Instagram;Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

After announcing in 2024 that she would "never return to the music industry," Spears posted in early 2026 that she doesn't plan on ever performing in the U.S. again due to "extremely sensitive reasons."

In February 2026, EW also confirmed that the pop star sold the rights to her music catalog to the publisher Primary Wave for an estimated $200 million.

On the evening of March 4, 2026, she was arrested on suspicion of a DUI in Ventura, Calif., and released the following morning.

"This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” Spears’ rep said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.”

The statement continued, saying that her sons, 20-year-old Preston and 19-year-old Jayden, would be spending time with her. "Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being."

Representatives for Spears did not immediately respond to **’s request for comment.

Spears is also said to be involved in an upcoming biopic film from Universal Studios. "I haven't really started anything fully yet, but she will be very involved in this." said director Jon M. Chu in 2025. "I have ideas and things, an approach, but it's very early."

In 2024, Chu, the director of musicals like *In the Heights* and *Wicked*, said the film would be "a lot about how we treat people, young people, stars that we think we own, women, mothers."**

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