Pop star Britney Spears was arrested this week on suspicion of driving under the influence, an incident that comes after months of what sources describe as increasingly erratic behavior.
Spears, 44, was taken into custody Wednesday night after authorities allegedly saw her BMW swerving through traffic in Ventura County, California.
According to reports confirmed by Page Six, the singer was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol around 9:28 p.m. and later booked early Thursday morning.
She was reportedly transported to a hospital for a blood draw so officials could determine her blood alcohol content. Spears was released from custody at 6:07 a.m. Thursday, and is scheduled to appear in court on May 4.
The arrest comes amid renewed attention surrounding a memoir released five months earlier by Spears’ ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
Federline’s tell-all book, titled “You Thought You Knew,” made a series of claims about the singer and her behavior during their relationship and while raising their children. According to a source close to Spears, the book had a profound emotional impact on the pop star.
“But the truth is, this has been going on for a while,” the source told Page Six after the arrest. “Her behavior has become increasingly erratic in recent months. She goes from being fine to being not.”
The insider said the memoir intensified those struggles.
“It was the Kevin book that really sent her over the edge, and it’s been downhill from there. It really impacted her emotionally.”
The source added that Spears believed she had already given Federline significant support over the years.
“She feels like she gave Kevin everything that he wanted over the years” and “paid him so much money,” the insider said. Despite that, the source claimed Spears believes her ex-husband still chose to reveal damaging claims about her.
“He used her; he wanted to ruin her,” the insider said. “And that was a really hard pill to swallow; it absolutely killed her that someone would want to damage her so much.”
Federline’s more than 200-page memoir included several allegations about Spears’ conduct during their marriage and while raising their two sons. Among the claims were accusations that Spears used drugs while breastfeeding and sometimes behaved in ways he described as erratic.
Federline also alleged that Spears drank alcohol during pregnancy and said he feared her life was “racing toward something irreversible.”
Spears has strongly denied those allegations.
Ahead of the book’s release, she criticized what she described as “constant gaslighting” from her former husband, saying the claims were both “extremely hurtful” and “exhausting.”
She also accused him of trying to profit from her personal struggles.
“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,” the singer wrote on X in October.
Spears and Federline married during an impromptu ceremony in Studio City, California, in September 2004.
During their relationship, they welcomed two sons, Sean Preston, now 20, and Jayden James, 19. The couple separated in 2006 and finalized their divorce the following year.
Following the DUI arrest, Spears’ manager issued a statement calling the incident serious and saying the singer must now take steps forward.
“Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law, and hopefully this can be the first step in a long-overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life,” manager Cate Hudson told Page Six.
Hudson added that Spears’ family is planning to support her as she navigates the aftermath of the arrest.
She said the singer’s sons “are going to be spending time with” her and that loved ones will work together on a plan to help her move forward.
“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time,” Hudson said.
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