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Britney Spears is opening up about one of the darkest chapters of her life, reflecting on the impact of her time in rehab and the pain she says still lingers. In a lengthy Instagram post shared on October 19, the pop icon revealed that she believes "brain damage happened to me," while also saying she has "moved on" from that difficult period.
Alongside a photo of herself riding a horse, Spears compared her shoulder blades to "wings" and drew parallels to the 2014 film Maleficent. "Remember the king tried to kill her but instead a guy secretly took her wings but anything from the father in heaven the real father whom is the one I only claim who loves unconditionally... anything holy is never forgotten," she wrote. "Her wings were holy so the king couldn't take them not one person could say they were restored and hidden locked in a secret holy stain glass church... not that this has any relevance with me but I do find it incredibly interesting."
The singer reflected on the "traumatic experience" she documented in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, saying that for four months she "no longer had my private door and illegally was forced to not use my feet or body to go anywhere." Spears added, "Trust me there's A LOT I didn't share in my book and still things at this very moment I've kept hidden because it's incredibly painful and sad... I do feel the logic and mindfulness in my body as ONE was 100 percent murdered and destroyed I couldn't dance or move for five months."
In her memoir, Spears revealed that her father, Jamie Spears, made her spend more than three months in a $60,000-per-month Beverly Hills rehab facility in 2018, where she was prescribed lithium and kept under strict conditions. "They kept me locked up against my will for months," she wrote, recalling that she couldn't drive, go outside, or even bathe in private.
Despite the pain, Spears told fans she's grateful to have survived. "I do feel like my wings were taken away and brain damage happened to me a long time ago 100 percent... I have of course moved on from that troubling time in my life and I'm blessed to be alive," she said.
Her post came just days before the release of her ex-husband Kevin Federline's memoir You Thought You Knew, which features new claims about their relationship.
