Britney Spears Claimed a Nurse at the Rehabilitation Center Told Her About the #FreeBritney Campaign

The highly anticipated book The Woman in Me by Britney Spears was released on October 24, 2023, before that happened facts and snippets from the book had leaked online. The highlights shed light on many previously unknown aspects of the singer's life, including the impact of the media on her mental health, her decision to terminate her pregnancy while dating Justin Timberlake, the difficulties she had while under conservatorship, and her discovery of the #FreeBritney campaign.

Britney Spears shared in The Woman in Me, that a nurse at the rehabilitation center was the first person to present her evidence of the growing #FreeBritney campaign. As reported by People, when Spears began resisting the conservatorship and battling with her father in late 2018, she reportedly put herself in the Beverly Hills facility that costs $60,000 per month. She mentioned in her memoir, "My father said that if I didn’t go, then I’d have to go to court, and I’d be embarrassed." Spears said that while in the facility, she was "locked up against my will," prohibited from leaving the building or driving her vehicle, and had to donate blood every week. She added, "I couldn’t take a bath in private. I couldn’t shut the door to my room."

Despite this, Spears said that a nurse at the institution used the opportunity to show her videos regarding the #FreeBritney campaign and the expanding conversation over her conservatorship. She wrote, "That was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my life. I don’t think people knew how much the #FreeBritney movement meant to me, especially in the beginning." Spears said that she was conflicted as the campaign gathered pace, caught between the support and the intrusiveness of some of the media. She had previously voiced her disapproval of the several documentaries that had been created during that time. She also wrote in her memoir, "Seeing the documentaries about me was rough. I understand that everyone’s heart was in the right place, but I was hurt that some old friend spoke to filmmakers without consulting me first… There was so much guessing about what I must have thought or felt."

Spears implied in the book that she did not feel secure with her parents and sister, writing on many occasions that she believed they were plotting her death. After Spears' father, Jamie, was named conservator of her financial and personal life by the state of California in 2008, he allegedly took control over all aspects of her life, including her schedule, dating life, social life, money, medicine, and even nutrition.

A security guy working for Federline arrived to take up Spears' boys in January of 2008. Spears recounted how she panicked, thought she'd never see her boys again, and hid in the toilet with her youngest son, Jayden while crying. She mentioned, "The only thing I was guilty of was feeling desperate to keep my children for a few more hours and to get some assurance that I wasn't going to lose them for good. Once they'd taken Jayden from me, they tied me onto a gurney and took me to the hospital."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 8, 2024. It has since been updated.