Britney Spears arrested in California for alleged drink driving
Britney Spears was charged with driving under the influence following an hour-long car chase involving “erratic braking and swerving”.
The Oops!…I Did It Again singer was pulled over by California Highway Patrol in Ventura County just before 9.30pm on Wednesday (4.30pm Thursday AEDT), before being handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
The 44-year-old spent the night in the slammer, being booked about 3am on Thursday (10pm AEDT) and released three hours later, according to the arrest record seen by nine.com.au.
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TMZ reports the star was “crying a lot” while being processed in jail.
Dispatchers described the car chase in a 911 call, saying a black sedan was ”swerving and driving with no tail light”, with “erratic braking”.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” a representative for Spears told CNN.
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“Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.”
The representative said her sons, Jayden and Sean, would be helping the singer through this time, having just rekindled their relationship at the end of last year after a period of estrangement.
“Her boys are going to be spending time with her,” they said. “Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”
Spears is set to face county court on May 4.
The singer had recently teased plans to tour Australia but if convicted she could face issue with applying for a visa.
The possible tour plans were the subject of a recent social media post.
The post, shared in January 2026, revealed the singer would never perform again in America due to “extremely sensitive reasons” but was keen to be on stage in the UK and Australia instead alongside her 19-year-old boy Jayden.
“But I hope to be sitting on a stool with a red rose in my hair, in a bun, performing with my son… in the UK and AUSTRALIA very soon,” she wrote.
Prior to making the bold statement, the 44-year-old had been plugging her younger son’s budding music career on her social media pages.
Since her overnight arrest, Spears appears to have deactivated her Instagram page – something she’s been known to do from time-to-time.
Spears shares her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, whom she was married to from 2004 to 2007.
In an interview with Today Extra last October to promote his memoir You Thought You Knew, Kevin said he was worried about the mother of his children.
“So much has been covered up and hidden for the sake of the family and her as well and I’m not trying to hurt her, that is not what’s going on here,” he said.
“The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt the mother of my children, but what I’m trying to do is gain some support for our sons and my family and the people who actually love her, to figure out a way forward.
“Because right now, the clock is ticking and anybody can see what’s going on, even from the outside, you can tell (from her social media videos) there’s a dire need for something to happen in this situation and try to get some positivity out of this.”
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It is not the first time Spears has faced legal issues, after four misdemeanour charges over a hit-run with a parked car in 2007.
The Toxic singer’s case was dismissed after she paid for the damages.
The following year, in 2008, she was put under a conservatorship by her father Jamie Spears.
This lasted until November 2021, when a court ruled it was no longer required and she regained control of her life after 13 years.
Britney Spears through the years: 1993 to 2023
The singer alleged that under the conservatorship her father had taken money and drugged her with lithium against her will.
She challenged the idea she was not mentally sound to make her own decisions, sighting that she had still been able to work through most of this period.
Spears fought the conservatorship, making a bombshell testimony in an LA court in June 2021.
She was spurred on by the #FreeBritney movement, which was started by fans in 2009 and gained momentum in 2019 after reports the singer was being held in a mental health facility against her will.
Her erratic posts on social media after her conservatorship ended continued to worry fans.
A number of concerned followers even called the police to conduct a welfare check after the singer was seen dancing with knives in a clip on Instagram in September 2023.
Spears later told fans they were prop knives rented from a shop.
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