Britney Spears Says She First Learned About #FreeBritney Movement from a Nurse While ‘Locked Up’ at Rehab

Britney Spears first became aware of the #FreeBritney movement while in rehab.

In his forthcoming memoir The woman in methe pop icon, 41, writes that she contested her court-ordered custody in 2018, but was required to undergo further mental health evaluations and a stint in rehab.

“My father said that if I didn’t go, I would have to go to court and I would be embarrassed,” Spears writes, claiming that he would make her look like an “idiot” if she didn’t comply.

When Spears was at the $60,000-a-month facility in Beverly Hills, she was prescribed lithium and allowed only an hour of television before bed at 9 p.m., she writes.

Britney Spears Opens Up: ‘Free at Last’ to Share Her Story in Bombshell Memoir and New Interview — ‘No More Lies’ (Exclusive)

“They kept me locked up against my will for months,” the “Hold Me Closer” singer writes in the book. “I couldn’t go out. I didn’t know how to drive a car. I had to give blood every week. I couldn’t bathe alone. I couldn’t close the door to my room.”

While at the facility, a nurse showed the musicians videos of fans organizing to support her and questioning the need for her guardianship.

“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Spears writes. “I don’t think people knew how much the #FreeBritney movement meant to me, especially in the beginning.”

Jamie Spears; Britney Spears.

Nick Ut/AP/Shutterstock; Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images

Britney Spears Says She Feels ‘Sick’ About Conservatorship: ‘I Didn’t Deserve What My Family Did To Me’ (Exclusive)

Liberation from The woman in me it comes nearly two years after Spears was released from her 13-year court supervision. The conservatorship was terminated in November 2021 after Spears gave impassioned public testimony in court in June 2021.

Ahead of the book’s release, Spears discussed it in an email interview with PEOPLE.

“For the past 15 years or even at the beginning of my career, I sat while people talked about me and told my story for me,” she says. “After I got out of conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without repercussions from the people who were in charge of my life.”

Britney Spears on the cover of PEOPLE.

Britney Brands

Britney Spears describes what it was like to live under the supervision of conservators: I became a ‘robot child’ (Exclusive)

The woman in me will reveal “for the first time her incredible journey (and) the strength at the core of one of the greatest female performers in pop music history” and “illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms,” ​​according to to the press release of Gallery Books.

The woman in me is Britney Spears.

The woman in me out October 24 via Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It is now available for pre-order.

For more exclusive excerpts and interviews with Britney Spears, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education