When Britney Spears Had a Panic Attack During ‘Gimme More’ MTV VMAs Performance in 2007

In her new memoir, Britney Spears discussed the fallout from her controversial performance of Gimme More at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. She said a panic episode preceded her disastrous Music Awards performance when she briefly ran into ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake. After a year of headline-making personal difficulties, including her split from Kevin Federline and a sudden need to shave her head, the big night was supposed to signal Spears' music return and help promote her first studio album since 2003. However, fans and the media alike noted that Spears looked to fumble through the routine.

As reported by People, Spears mentioned in her memoir The Woman in Me, "It had been a while since I'd seen him. Everything was going great in his world. He was at the top of his game in every way, and he had a lot of swagger. I was having a panic attack". Spears also discussed how "nothing was going right" before her performance at the awards show. She added, "There was a problem with my costume and with my hair extensions. I hadn’t slept the night before. I was dizzy. It was less than a year since I’d had my second baby in two years but everyone was acting like my not having six-pack abs was offensive. I couldn’t believe I was going to have to go out onstage feeling the way I felt."

Spears recalled in her memoir comedian Sarah Silverman's speech, in which she roasted her. She jotted down, "She called my two babies 'the most adorable mistakes you'll ever see'. I didn't hear that until later, though. At the time, I was backstage, sobbing hysterically. In the days and weeks that followed, the newspapers made fun of my body and my performance. Dr. Phil called it a train wreck." The 2021 documentary Framing Britney Spears brought up the events of that night again, and Silverman acknowledged the statements she made at the time. Silverman said on X that she was recruited to ridicule Spears after the show and had no idea how poorly it had gone. She tweeted, "MTV asked me to mini-roast Britney after her big performance. While she was performing, I was having diarrhea & going over my jokes. Had no idea she didn’t kill. Unfortunate. Art changes over yrs as we know more & the world changes."

The pop singer gave an exclusive interview to PEOPLE just before the memoir's publication. She wrote, "Over the past 15 years or even at the start of my career, I sat back while people spoke about me and told my story for me. After getting out of my conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without consequences from the people in charge of my life. It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me. No more conspiracy, no more  lies—just me owning my past, present, and future."