Even With Her Memoir, Pop Icon Britney Spears Is Still Being Silenced

Oops, they did it again: silencing Britney that is.  

Though pop icon Britney Spears was ready to break the ice on her own story in her upcoming memoir, slated for a Fall 2023 release, the book’s release has been delayed, according to a story reported in The Sun. Reportedly, Spears’ memoir is delayed due to “strongly worded legal letters”, sent on behalf of two A-listers, who have not been identified, to Spear’s publisher Simon & Schuster. The letters were sent in fear of what she has written within her book, which alludes to some piping hot tea that Spears is ready to spill. 

“Britney is brutally honest in the book — there are a lot of nervous A-listers,” said a source to The Sun.

Spears seems to leave no stone unturned in this upcoming memoir, including the relationships she has developed publicly and behind closed doors.

“There’s a fair amount of throwing people under the bus, talking about past relationships, some of whom will be revealed for the first time ever,” said the source. “Britney lived her life in the public eye, but there are relationships and people she had encounters with who she managed to keep under the radar, including some massive film star names and people from the music world.”

Spears’ memoir, of which she signed a book deal of $15 million with Simon & Schuster for, has been in development since last year. In April 2022, the “Toxic” singer took to Instagram, in a now deleted post, to discuss her impending memoir. The post was captioned with, “I’m writing a book at the moment and as it’s actually healing and therapeutic,” she wrote. “It’s also hard bringing up past events in my life..I’ve never been able to express openly!!!”

It’s about time a Britney Spears tell-all made it to shelves. Throughout the 41-year-old’s career, she’s been tabloid fodder, chart-topper, and the architect of the modern day “pop princess,” all of which was explored in recent documentaries such as The New York Times’ Framing Britney Spears and Netflix’s Britney vs. Spears. But throughout this journey she has been barred from simply saying and doing what she wants since the enactment of her conservatorship in 2008. Though these documentaries wanted to discuss the difficult ways public scrutiny affected Spears in the past, she wasn’t actually a huge fan of them, calling them, “nothing more than trash” on Twitter.  

Spears’ conservatorship is employed on individuals who are not able to take care of themselves, typically for folks navigating extreme mental illness. Spears was admitted to the hospital twice under a temporary psychiatric assessment ruling in 2008 and was consequently placed under a temporary conservatorship. It was then made permanent later in that year and controlled her estate, financial affairs, and personal life. 

News of Spears not being able to make financial, career, and personal decisions on her own due to the conservatorship stirred up thinkpieces and protests championing Spears’ release from it. Spears was released from her conservatorship in 2021, and has since been on a journey of self-expression and reclaiming her independence, both of which haven’t prevented her from being the public eye. 

Related:

Once Upon a One More Time Brings Britney Spears’ Hits to the Broadway Stage

In 2022, Spears married fitness trainer and model Sam Asghari. She also christened the development of the Broadway musical Once Upon a One More Time. Finally, Spears released her first song since the end of the conservatorship with her chart-topping duet “Hold Me Closer” with megastar Elton John.

While fans get a sneak peek into the pop icon’s life via social media, when this memoir releases, Spears will finally be able to tell her fans her side of the story.