Britney Spears’ family are growing increasingly alarmed about her spiraling behavior and is quietly discussing how to step in before it’s too late, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The 43-year-old singer sparked fresh fears she’s ‘losing control’ after swerving into the wrong lane during a chaotic night out.
Footage published exclusively by the Daily Mail last week shows the star unsteady on her feet and struggling to stay upright outside upscale Thousand Oaks restaurant Red-O. Video also shows Spears appearing to drive erratically, swerving and perilously crossing over the double yellow line into the wrong lane.
Now, the Daily Mail can reveal that Spears’ family is holding crisis talks, terrified her behavior is mirroring the build-up to her infamous 2007 breakdown, when she shaved her head, lost custody of her two sons and was twice hospitalized.
Multiple insiders close to the family told the Daily Mail that relatives are unsure how to step in without reigniting old wounds.
Others have suggested she be placed back in the controversial conservatorship that was managed, in part, by her father Jamie. Spears lived under the legal arrangement for 13 years from 2008 to 2021, and every aspect of her lifestyle was controlled.
Footage published exclusively by the Daily Mail last week shows the star unsteady on her feet and struggling to stay upright
Video also shows Spears appearing to drive erratically, swerving and perilously crossing over the double yellow line into the wrong lane
‘There’s a lot of concern,’ a source told the Daily Mail. ‘Everyone has always wanted the best for her, and she’s showing right now that she’s making bad choices.
‘It’s terrifying. So there’s a lot of talk about what to do, if anything. How can we protect her from herself.’
However, Spears’ confidantes don’t want to relive the disastrous consequences of the last time the family took action.
‘But the last time that [Spears’ father] Jamie stepped in to protect his daughter, he became public enemy number one,’ the source added.
‘People said he was trying to grab her money, which is not true. So the question is whether anyone should step in to help her, and deal with the backlash.’
Last week, onlookers who saw the volatile Spears on her night out say her top slipped off her shoulders as she knocked over glasses and dropped items across the restaurant floor.
After reportedly ordering a quesadilla from the ‘happy hour’ menu, Spears then raised a glass in a bizarre toast to the entire restaurant, before appearing to struggle with her footing as a female friend held her hand and guided her outside.
Despite protestations from several people, including her companion and restaurant staff, Spears got behind the wheel of her black BMW.
Video shows Spears appearing to drive dangerously, making abrupt U-turns and accelerating sharply with her tires screeching.
At points, she also tailgated other vehicles, swerved off the road and, most concerning, crossed over into the wrong lane, putting herself in danger of on-coming traffic multiple times.
The family has seen the footage, three different sources tell the Daily Mail, and are alarmed at what happened.
‘It’s really, really hard to watch,’ one source close to the Spears family said.
‘But there’s nothing that can be done at this point. She has to figure this all out on her own.
‘But I hope she knows that there are many people who were once in her life who are worried about her, and care deeply for her well-being.’
A third family source, however, was more direct.
‘She needs to go back under a conservatorship. This is exactly what we all saw 18 years ago,’ the source said.
‘She needed help then, and she needs help now. She is not in a good place, and it’s obvious that she doesn’t have people in her life who are looking out for best interests.
‘She needs someone to step in and help her.’
Multiple insiders close to the family told the Daily Mail that relatives are unsure how to step in without reigniting old wounds
The worrying behavior comes in the wake of Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline’s (left) shocking tell-all memoir
The worrying behavior comes in the wake of Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline’s shocking tell-all memoir, You Thought You Knew, in which he recounts several episodes in which he alleges the hitmaker acted erratically around their sons.
Federline, who was married to the Toxic singer from 2004 to 2007, had custody of their two sons for the majority of their childhood.
Now adults, Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19, have limited contact with their mom.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on Thursday, Federline, 47, said that their sons are distancing themselves from Spears.
‘[Britney] saw one of my sons one day this year, and he decided not to go back over there because of what he saw,’ he said in reference to Sean Preston.
‘The other one, Jayden, who’s my younger son, is 19 now — he’s been over there quite a few times over the past year, and he’s stopped seeing her in the last few months because of the situation.’
After he was asked why his sons don’t ‘want to be around her’ and what exactly they have seen, the former backup dancer said, ‘That’s not my story to tell.’
‘That’s my sons’ story to tell if they decide to. I mean, the things that they’ve seen are shocking, right?’ Federline said.
A representative for Spears has denied all claims made by Federline, with the singer accusing her ex husband of ‘gaslighting’ her and firing back at the allegations, writing on social media, ‘I 100 percent beg to differ.’
Spears’ representatives told the Daily Mail that Federline and others are ‘profiting off her,’ noting that child support arrangements with Federline had already concluded.
‘With news from Kevin’s book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin,’ the spokesman said. ‘All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this sensationalism.’
While the Spears family is no fan of Federline’s, they do agree with some of his assessments.
‘Kevin is an opportunist, I think,’ said one of the family sources.
‘So I take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. But he is absolutely right that the boys are reluctant to spend any significant time with her at the moment. It’s just too volatile of a situation for them.’
‘The boys are grown, so this isn’t a DCFS situation, but they are still young enough that they need to be exposed to stability, which is not what they get when they go to Britney’s house.’
‘The driving video is a good example of what we’re dealing with,’ the family source added.
‘People were there, begging her not to drive and she did anyway. If that’s not a metaphor, I don’t know what is.’
Representatives for Spears did not return the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
