10 bombshells from Britney Spears' book - sex, drugs and why she shaved her head

24 October 2023, 09:39

Britney Spears' tell-all memoir has been released, revealing details of her tumultuous relationship with Justin Timberlake, her difficult family life, and how she handled life in the spotlight from a young age.

Britney, nicknamed the Princess of Pop, has fascinated people the world over for more than 20 years with her combination of raw talent, glamorous looks and extreme vulnerability.

Her book, The Woman In Me, gives her the chance to tell her side of the story after many years in the public eye.

Here we go through some of the most intriguing stories to emerge from the book.

Britney and Justin cheated on each other

Britney dated Justin Timberlake from 1999 to 2002, when they were 20 and 21 respectively.

But she accused him in the book of cheating on her with "another celebrity".

Britney did not name the person Timberlake allegedly cheated on her with, labelling her as "another celebrity".

She said she did not want to name her as she has a family and did not want to embarrass them.

Britney admitted that she also was unfaithful to Timberlake once, kissing choreographer Wade Robson on a night out.

She said that she was loyal to Timberlake throughout, with that one exception.

Britney had a painful home abortion despite not wanting to

Britney also revealed in her memoir that she had an abortion with Timberlake at 19.

She said: “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much.

"I always expected us to have a family together one day," she continued, according to People Magazine."This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated."

She added: "But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young."

"If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father."

"To this day, it’s one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life."

She had an abortion at home for privacy reasons. But after taking the abortion pills she suffered "excruciating cramps" that lasted for hours. But Justin simply played guitar for her while she cried, and didn't take her to hospital.

Justin 'dumped Britney over text'

Britney said in the book that Timberlake ended their three-year relationship with a text message.

Timberlake messaged her simply to say: "It's over!!", she claims.

Britney was filming the music video for Overprotected at the time, which involved very long days. She had to go straight back to work, despite being in floods of tears at being broken up with.

Justin still doesn't understand why Britney is upset about their relationship'

Britney said that Timberlake still does not understand how much he hurt her in their relationship, despite it ending 20 years ago.

His Cry Me a River song was a huge hit, with a music video that was an unsubtle nod to their relationship. Timberlake has since admitted that his relationship with Britney inspired the video.

Britney said: "Everyone felt very sorry for him. And it shamed me. I felt there was no way at the time to tell my side of the story. I couldn’t explain, because I knew no one would take my side once Justin had convinced the world of his version.

"I don’t think Justin realized the power he had in shaming me. I don’t think he understands to this day.

"After Cry Me a River came out, anywhere I went, I could get booed. I would go to clubs and I would hear boos. Once I went to a Lakers game with my little sister and one of my brother’s friends, and the whole place, the whole arena, booed me."

Britney took drugs for the first time after breaking up with Timberlake

Britney was so upset about her break-up with Justin Timberlake that she decided to take drugs for the first time.

She was living in New York, in a luxury apartment that she rarely left.

But one evening she decided to go to a "sexy underground club" with her cousin, who gave her cannabis.

Britney said that she "took a couple of hits from a joint".

Britney drank from the age of 13

Britney was drinking cocktails with her mother from the age of 13, she claimed in the book.

She said that they nicknamed the drinks "toddies".

Favourites included daiquiris and White Rusians, which she would drink on drives to the beach.

She said those days were "some of the happiest" of her childhood, describing them as a "piece of heaven".

Britney 'felt like a child-robot' during conservatorship

Britney felt she was stripped of her womanhood and bodily autonomy under her controversial conservatorship, which lasted for 13 years until it was lifted in court in 2021.

The conservatorship was led by her father Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet. The men had complete control over her financial and personal affairs for 13 years.

Reflecting on this time, the singer wrote: “I became a robot. But not just a robot – a sort of child-robot. I had been so infantilised that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself.

“The conservatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child. I became more of an entity than a person onstage. I had always felt music in my bones and my blood; they stole that from me.”

She shared: “The woman in me was pushed down for a long time. They wanted me to be wild onstage, the way they told me to be, and to be a robot the rest of the time.

“It felt like I was being deprived of those good secrets of life – those fundamental supposed sins of indulgence and adventure that make us human.

“They wanted to take away that specialness and keep everything as rote as possible. It was death to my creativity as an artist.”

Britney felt like her family wanted to kill her during the conservatorship

Britney said she was worried her family could make an attempt on her life, such was the control they had over her during her conservatorship.

She did make attempts to push back against the control they had over her. She revealed she wouuld try to fight against it when her father "took away access to [her] cell phone".

Britney also discussed how she would smuggle in "a private phone and try and break free" but that her family always caught her. She became tired and scared, and began to fear her life was in danger.

"After being held down on a gurney, I knew they could restrain my body any time they wanted to.

"They could’ve tried to kill me, I thought. I started to wonder if they did want to kill me," she added.

Britney seduced Colin Farrell on a film set

Britney spotted Farrell on a night out at a bar and told a friend how handsome she thought he was.

Later she boldly drove to the set of his film S.W.A.T. and sat in the director's chair.

Farrell saw her, approached and asked for "pointers" on his performance. This was the start of a two-week fling that Britney compared to a "brawl".

She said they were "all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight".

Although the relationship didn't last, Britney said at one point she thought "there could be something there".

Why Britney shaved her head

Britney shaved her head in 2007, with photos of the bizarre incident shocking fans around the world and sparking concerns for her wellbeing.

She was in the middle of a divorce from Kevin Federline, the father of her two children, and said that she felt the glare of the public spotlight.

Britney said that she was so used to being "eyeballed" and "looked up and down", that shaving her head was a way to "act out" and push back against all the judgemental attention she had received for years.