Looks like Britney Spears won the VMAs and she didn’t even step foot on stage. The night of the big shebang, the “Toxic” singer posted a bombshell 22-minute audio video to her official YouTube (it has since been deleted), where she reveals a whole host of previously private details about the state of her 13-year conservatorship.
In the video, she alleged a series of indecencies and indignities allegedly committed against her, including being forced into a mental health facility in 2019, pints of blood drawn from her against her will, forced to sit in a chair for 10 hours a day, and mental anguish at the hands of her father, Jamie Spears.
Britney Spears uploaded a 22 min audio (now deleted) to her YT channel talking about her conservatorship. 💔
— Bryan Abreu (@BryanAbreu10) August 29, 2022
And just like with her court testimony, I'm left shattered and with no words.
Britney is incredibly brave and strong.💖🥺#WeLoveYouBritney #JusticeForBritney pic.twitter.com/nYrwuLuDgc
“I get nothing out of sharing all of this,” the singer, who just dropped “Hold Me Closer” with Elton John, said in the 22-minute video. “I have offers to do interviews with Oprah and so many people [for] lots and lots of money, but it’s insane. I don’t want any of it. For me, it’s beyond a sit-down proper interview.”
She went on to describe some horrific conditions she says occurred during her 2008-2021 conservatorship, and the emotional fallout from those events. “They literally killed me. They threw me away,” she said of her family. “I felt like my family threw me away. I was performing for thousands of people at night in Vegas, the rush of being a performer, the laughter, the respect … I was a machine. I was a f***ing machine, not even human almost. It was insane.”
🚨 Britney Spears just uploaded a 22 minute video talking about her life: https://t.co/efTEfZLIZt pic.twitter.com/f4wGQUbcS3
— Britney Stan 💕 #HoldMeCloser (@BritneyTheStan) August 28, 2022
She described the conditions of her 2019 stint in a mental health facility, which she says she was forced into because she refused to do a certain dance move during her choreographed stage shows. She says she had to strip naked in front of strangers, sit for 10 hours in a chair, and participate in invasive forms of therapy.
“They put me in an ignorant state of mind to make me feel like I needed them,” she said, adding that the facility told her, “If you don’t do what we say, we’re going to show you who’s boss.”
The official word in 2019 given from Britney’s camp for her stay in the facility was anguish due to her father’s physical health, but according to her, she was actually begging Jamie Spears to let her go and he mocked her instead with her inability to free herself from her conservatorship.
“I was, like, ‘Why are you guys doing this?'” she revealed she asked her family, adding that her father responded coldly with, “Now you don’t have to go, but if you don’t go, we’re going to go to trial and you’re going to lose. I have way more people on my side than you [do]. You don’t even have a lawyer, so don’t even think about it.”
The “Stronger” singer’s conservatorship was terminated in November 2021, and she has accused her father and her family of conservatorship abuse, saying in court that her family should be in jail.
Britney also revealed that for a time, she was in a secret relationship with an unnamed man that she was able to carry out with a secret mobile phone her father didn’t know about.
“I remember one time I was backstage and I needed my inhaler,” she began. “And I opened up to my assistant, because I had my phone with me which I'm not supposed to have my phone underneath the stage. But I said to her, ‘You know what I'm doing. I was talking to a guy and he wanted to just leave the country with me.’ We had it all set up to just leave. And it was a secret relationship.”
She continued, “And I said, my biggest fear was what would my dad do? If I did do something wrong? What if I left the country? Whatif they found me and what would they do? And I said, ‘I feel like they would lock me up or something or really hurt me.’ And she looked at me and she said, ‘Are you kidding me? Britney, your dad would never do that to you.’”
“And I didn't even do anything wrong, and he still did it.”
She then lashed out at her estranged mother Lynne Spears, saying, “I'm honestly more angry at my mom …. I feel like she could have gotten me a lawyer in literally two seconds. My friend helped me get one in the end. But every time I made contact with a firm, my phone was tapped and they would take my phone away from me.”
Lynne has since responded to these allegations on Instagram, posting a pic of her and her daughter during happier times, writing in the caption, “Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! And also, I have tried my best to help you out of hardships! I have never and will never turn my back on you!”
She continued, “Your rejections to the countless times I have flown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this talk is for you and me only , eye to eye, in private.”
Fans and members of the powerful #FreeBritney movement are of course beside themselves with these new revelations, which dropped Sunday night around the same times as the VMAs.
Britney really is a genius.
— 🍬 (@BabyPopPrince) August 28, 2022
Not only is she outing her story all over social media as the 2022 MTV VMAs commence, but she's proving that her family and Kevin are the ones who will do ANYTHING for money, while she simply won't. She'd rather use her story to empower others instead
“Britney really is a genius,” one Twitter user wrote. “Not only is she outing her story all over social media as the 2022 MTV VMAs commence, but she's proving that her family and Kevin are the ones who will do ANYTHING for money, while she simply won't. She'd rather use her story to empower others instead."
Fuck the VMAs Britney posted a 22 minute video
— alex (@alexspears_) August 28, 2022
"F*** the VMAs Britney posted a 22 minute video,” another quipped.
This isn’t the first time the “Lucky” singer has used the VMAs to her advantage. Who could forget when she appeared on-stage in a belly-dancing outfit with a snake wrapped around her for her "I'm A Slave 4 U" performance at the 2001 MTV VMAs.She also bounced back from her public head-shaving moment in 2007 with a performance of "Gimme Moore" at the 2007 MTV VMAs.
And everyone still remembers that infamous kiss with Madonna during the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. And just last year, she announced her engagement to her now-husband Sam Asghari ere hours before the 2021 VMAs.
At this year’s awards, she was definitely missed, as Nicki Minaj, who won the Video Vanguard Award, namechecked the “Work B***h” singer during her acceptance speech. "I just want to take a second to all of the key people that inspired me and who I think inspired my flow. And [the people] who gave me huge opportunities that I'll never forget.” She then listed Britney as one of those muses.
Looks like the “Oops I Did It Again” crooner once again has the VMAs in the palm of her hand, and we gotta say, we are low-key obsessed.