Britney Spears in her own words: The star finally has her say in The Woman In Me
For all the noise that has surrounded Britney Spears, little has ever come from the star herself.
Ever since Baby One More Time announced her arrival as a superstar at the age of 16, Spears has made headlines: her appearance, her sex life, her break-ups, her breakdown – every movement scrutinised, analysed, objectified, criticised.
Paparazzi photographers followed her like an “army of zombies” and for 13 years she lived under a conservatorship that controlled her life.
She was one of the biggest stars on the planet but could not make her own choices – from trainers to boyfriends, it was all vetted.
Pic: Simon & Schuster
Now, after being freed from her conservatorship following much-publicised legal proceedings in 2021 – and the #FreeBritney campaign from fans – Spears is telling her story in her own words, in the memoir The Woman In Me.
The title is significant, referencing a lyric from the song Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman, released earlyish in her career from her third album, Britney, in 2002: “I’m not a girl, don’t tell me what to believe… I’m just tryin’ to find the woman in me.”
Spears was just 20 when the song was released. Sexualised from a young age, at the same time shamed and criticised about her womanhood, she could not win. As she puts it: “No one could seem to think of me as both sexy and capable, or talented and hot. If I was sexy, they seemed to think I must be stupid. If I was hot, I couldn’t possibly be talented.”
And then, after she became a mother – all she had ever wanted – she was placed under the conservatorship, with her father Jamie and others in charge. Under this legal arrangement, she became “a sort of child-robot”, she says. “I had been so infantilised that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself… the conservatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child.”
The Woman In Me is a short memoir, less than 300 pages. Spears’s storytelling is straightforward, addressing aspects of her life, good and bad, matter-of-factly before moving on to the next. She doesn’t need to embellish – the facts are emotive enough.
Pic: From the documentary Framing Britney Spears/ Sky Documentaries
‘There is so much freedom in being anonymous’
The star begins with her early life growing up in Kentwood, Louisiana, detailing a somewhat difficult childhood due to her parents fighting and father Jamie’s drinking. She was drinking and smoking by the age of 13, she says, and started driving at that age, too.
As she details her rise to fame, it is clear how underestimated she was from the start. As many who were involved in her career and the Baby One More Time video have previously said, the idea for the bored schoolgirl and her classmates dancing in the corridors – a huge part of the song’s success – was all hers.
Back then, she “had nothing to lose”, she says. “There is so much freedom in being anonymous.”
Once that song was out in the world, her life, her freedom, would never be the same again.
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Pic: AP/Chris Gardner
Spears goes on to describe her relationship with fellow Mickey Mouse club protege Justin Timberlake, describing their romance and claiming he cheated on her, but says she “let it all go”, eventually also cheating on him. Perhaps the biggest revelation from the book, that she had an abortion during their relationship, was previewed before its release. To Spears, the pregnancy wasn’t a “tragedy”, she says, but Timberlake said they weren’t ready.
When they broke up in 2002 they were a couple barely out of their teens – a difficult time in anyone’s life, let alone under the glare of paparazzi flashes and tabloid headlines. He dumped her by text message, she says. She details her hurt, but also defends Timberlake about another aspect of their break-up that he has since been publicly criticised for – admitting to an interviewer that they had slept together, despite her being marketed as “an eternal virgin”.
Timberlake is yet to comment on Spears’s memoir, but has previously apologised for his comments on their sex life. But the star says of this: “Was I mad at being ‘outed’ by him as sexually active? No. To be honest with you, I liked that Justin said that. Why did my managers work so hard to claim I was some kind of young-girl virgin even into my 20s. Whose business was it if I’d had sex or not?”
Spears says she started to increasingly suffer anxiety as she made headlines whatever she did. What happened in the years that followed has been well-documented: her 55-hour Las Vegas marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander; her marriage to dancer Keven Federline later that year and the subsequent birth of her two sons, and then the struggles she faced after their split amid a custody battle. She suffered perinatal depression, she says, as her “vulnerable” babies were placed in “the world of jockeying paparazzi and tabloids”.
When it became too much, she famously shaved her head. This was her “f*** you” to the world, to everyone who wanted her to be the beautiful good girl, the pop princess puppet.
Not long after this, plans for the conservatorship were put in place.
#FreeBritney: ‘I’ve been through too much’
Spears says she started attempts to free herself from the legal arrangement in 2014. Hearings took place in private, but as the #FreeBritney movement grew and a documentary was released about it early in 2021, the world became aware that something wasn’t right. Then, in June 2021, Spears finally had her say in open court, giving a four-page statement over 20 minutes, telling the judge: “I want my life back.”
Five months later, the order was lifted. Since then, Spears has gone through a miscarriage, married and subsequently split from Sam Asghari. Fans now hear from her through her Instagram page, on which she shares dancing videos and often naked or semi-naked pictures or clips.
Concerns for her welfare have been raised about her posts, but as she explains in the book: “I know that a lot of people don’t understand why I love taking pictures of myself naked or in new dresses… I think if they’d been photographed by other people thousands of times, prodded and posed for other people’s approval, they’d understand that I get a lot of joy from posing the way I feel sexy and taking my own picture.”
Instagram aside, The Woman In Me is the first chance to hear about all of these much-covered ups and downs of her life in in Spears’s own words. She is honest about her flaws – that she was never good at fame, that she did occasionally take prescription drugs, she did cheat – but it is clear she was let down by so many. There is an undercurrent of anger: at the industry, the men who wronged her, her family, all those who made money out of Brand Britney while she was suffering.
Like many child stars before her, Spears has not experienced a normal transition into adulthood. At least now, hopefully, she gets to call the shots. Her book gives her the chance to have her say, but she doesn’t want to look back and reflect on the what ifs.
“It’s difficult for me to revisit this darkest chapter of my life and to think about what might have been different if I’d pushed back harder then,” she says of the conservatorship. “I don’t at all like to think about that… I can’t afford to, honestly. I’ve been through too much.”
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
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In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
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