Videos obtained by NBC News show the recent DUI arrest of pop star Britney Spears, including a conversation she had with an officer while in the back seat of a California Highway Patrol car.
In the video from CHP, you can see the moments when Spears was taken away by officers in the community of Westlake Village.
The 44-year-old was arrested on March 4 after someone called 911 to report an erratic driver on the 101 Freeway in the Newbury Park area, law enforcement told NBC4 Investigates. The CHP said Spears — who was the lone occupant of the black BMW 430i — appeared to be impaired and took a series of field sobriety tests.
Authorities said in the criminal complaint that Spears had alcohol and drugs in her system, but they didn’t disclose what substance or list her blood alcohol content.
On May 4, she admitted to violating California’s “wet reckless” law, which provides plea options in some DUI cases and can be offered at the county prosecutor’s discretion. The law applies to defendants without a prior DUI history and a low blood-alcohol level in a case not involving a crash or injuries.
She was sentenced to 12 months of probation and one day of jail, credited as time served, as well as a required DUI class and state-mandated fines.
“Through her plea today, Britney has accepted responsibility for her conduct,” Michael A. Goldstein, Spears’ attorney who appeared in court on her behalf, said in a statement on May 4.
“She has taken significant steps to implement positive change which is clearly reflected in the Ventura County District Attorney’s decision to reduce the charge in this case and dismiss the DUI. Britney appreciates this discretion and is also grateful for the outpouring of support she has received.”
Britney Spears’ rep is shutting down reports that the singer was acting “erratic” and “causing a scene” at a restaurant. After TMZ reported that sources witnessed the pop star allegedly “screaming” and “barking” while out to eat with friends in Sherman Oaks, Calif. earlier this week, her rep clapped back in a statement, saying those claims were “completely blown out of proportion.” “Britney was enjoying a quiet dinner with her assistant and bodyguard. She was simply telling the story about how her dog was barking at the neighbors,” the statement read. Brit’s team also denied claims that Britney walked by a customer’s table holding a knife. Meanwhile, Britney’s youngest son Jayden James Federline made a rare appearance at the Dior Cruise 2027 fashion show in Los Angeles on May 13.
The Grammy winning pop star’s arrest came about five years after she was released by a judge from a controversial conservatorship that gave her father control over her finances and career for more than a decade. Jamie Spears was named conservator after his daughter suffered a series of mental health crises in the early 2000s.
Spears shared her experience under the conservatorship in her best-selling 2023 memoir “The Woman In Me,” describing how her life was controlled by others.
The Mississippi native ended up at the center of the #FreeBritney campaign that supported her efforts to be granted authority over her medical, personal and financial decisions. After Spears’ conservatorship case unfolded in the public eye, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that limited conservatorships that grant legal guardianship over individuals.
Spears, who has not previously been arrested, was behind some of music’s biggest pop hits, including “…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again!,” “Womanizer” and “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Spears won her first Grammy in 2004 for Best Dance Recording for “Toxic.”
Earlier this year, Spears sold the rights to her music catalog.