In her forthcoming memoir titled 'The Woman in Me,' Britney Spears candidly delves into the reasons behind her headline-making decision to shave her head back in 2007. The iconic pop sensation, now 41 years old, used a barber's clipper to shear off her signature locks at Esther's Haircutting Studio in Tarzana, California, during a tumultuous period that saw her grappling with a series of rehab stints.
Reflecting on the incident from 16 years ago, Britney shares in an excerpt obtained by People, "I'd been eyeballed so much growing up. I'd been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body since I was a teenager. Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back."
The deeply personal tell-all book goes on to reveal that in 2008, Britney's father, Jamie Spears, now 71, assumed control of her personal, medical, and financial affairs as part of a contentious conservatorship. This arrangement was only legally terminated last year.
Britney recounts, "I was made to understand that those days were now over. I had to grow my hair out and get back into shape. I had to go to bed early and take whatever medication they told me to take."
When Britney initially sought to have her head shaved at the hair studio, the salon's owner, Esther Tognozzi, refused to oblige. Undeterred, Britney took matters into her own hands, grabbing a clipper and giving herself a buzzcut, all while paparazzi captured the dramatic transformation through the salon's windows.
Days later, Britney made headlines again, this time for an altercation with a photographer's car, wielding an umbrella. These incidents unfolded amidst a turbulent divorce and custody battle with her former spouse, Kevin Federline, aged 45, with whom she shares two children, Sean, 18, and Jayden, 17.
A year later, Britney found herself hospitalized on two involuntary psychiatric holds, and her father sought legal guardianship over her. In her memoir set for release on October 24th, Britney laments, "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."
In a poignant statement, Britney emphasizes, "I didn't deserve" the treatment she received from her family. She adds, "The woman in me was pushed down for a long time. They wanted me to be wild onstage… and to be a robot the rest of the time."
Britney's testimony against her "abusive" conservatorship in a 2021 court hearing led to the suspension of Jamie Spears from managing her life, and eventually, the complete termination of the arrangement in April 2022.
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