Britney Spears Enters Rehab Center After Drunk-Driving Controversy—After Selling Music Rights, Another Crisis Hits

Pop icon Britney Spears (Britney Spears, 44), who made headlines after causing a drunk-driving accident, voluntarily entered a rehab center about a month later.

■ Arrested While Driving at High Speed… “Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol”

According to reports from Reuters and other outlets on the 14th (local time), Spears voluntarily entered a rehabilitation center on the 12th. It appears to be a follow-up measure to the drunk-driving incident that occurred last month on the 5th in Ventura County, California.

At the time, Spears was apprehended by local police after driving at an unusually high speed. Local police announced that the test results showed she was behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office plans to make a final decision on whether to press charges against her before the court hearing scheduled for the 4th of next month.

■ Broke Free From 13 Years of Control… But Ongoing Concerns Over Mental Health

In 2021, Britney Spears regained her freedom after winning a lawsuit that challenged and stripped her father, Jamie Spears, of his legal guardianship status, which had been exercised for 13 years. After that, in her memoir published in 2023, 〈The Woman in Me〉, she exposed her father’s excessive control and the suffering it caused, earning support from fans around the world.

However, even after gaining freedom, concerns about her mental health and substance abuse never went away. Although this rehab-center entry is being interpreted as her recognizing the problem and showing determination to recover, fans are deeply worried that she may be returning to the same unstable condition as before.

■ Declaration: “No Comeback as a Singer”… And She Even Settles Her Music Rights

Her prospects for returning to music have become even more uncertain. In 2024, Spears made remarks hinting at retirement, saying she “will never return to the music industry.” And at the end of last year, she sold all her music rights in one package, including the copyrights to her hit songs, to the company Primary Wave, effectively clearing the foundation for her career as an artist.

Once the “fairy of pop” who commanded stages worldwide found herself in heartbreaking circumstances—legal disputes and entering a rehab center—meaning her second act in life is once again facing a major storm.