Britney Spears Charged with DUI and Drug Offenses
(Los Angeles) American singer Britney Spears was charged Thursday with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, as announced by the Ventura County prosecutor’s office, nearly two months after the pop star’s arrest on a road near her California home.
The complaint filed by the prosecution does not specify what type of drug the singer had in her system.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday in this case, in a Ventura County court adjacent to Los Angeles.
However, Britney Spears “is not required to be present” and could simply be represented by a lawyer, as it is a “minor offense,” the prosecution clarified in a statement.
At 44 years old, the interpreter of “Baby One More Time” and “Oops! … I Did It Again” was apprehended on the evening of March 4, before being briefly detained and released the following morning.
One of her representatives at the time described the episode as an “unfortunate and completely inexcusable incident.” In the following weeks, the singer voluntarily went through a detoxification process.
At the upcoming Monday hearing, the prosecutor’s office plans to offer a plea deal to the singer, typical for cases without accidents, involving a low blood alcohol content, and where the defendants commit to detoxification.
Such agreements generally involve probation, attending a drunk driving course, and a fine, the prosecutor added.
Britney Spears, who dominated the music scene in the 2000s, has had a tumultuous life, which she delved into in her autobiography, “The Woman in Me,” published in October 2023.
“I loved to drink, but I never lost control,” she wrote, also acknowledging taking Adderall, a medication prescribed for attention disorders that belongs to the amphetamine family.
In the book, she reflects on her impoverished childhood overshadowed by an alcoholic father, romantic troubles with Justin Timberlake, and harassment by paparazzi.
After her downfall in 2007, the singer was placed under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, who controlled her money and private life, while she continued to perform concerts in Las Vegas.
Pushed by her fans, united under the slogan “Free Britney,” the pop star eventually rebelled, leading to the American courts voiding the conservatorship in 2021.
