Britney Spears has claimed she was made to take lithium against her will after she publicly announced that she was taking a break from live performances.
The pop star made the claims in her testimony to open court in Los Angeles, in a landmark moment for her controversial conservatorship battle.
“Lithium is very very strong, it’s a completely different medication to what I was used to,” she said during her court appearance in a landmark moment for her ongoing conservatorship battle on 23 June.
“It’s a strong drug. You can go mentally impaired if you stay on it longer than five months. I felt drunk, I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad about anything,” she said in a Los Angeles courtroom.
She additionally claimed that six different nurses visited her home to monitor her and ensure she took the medicine for a month. She alleged that she wasn’t permitted to go anywhere during that period.
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The 39-year-old “Gimme More” singer spoke directly to Superior Court judge Brenda Penny about the conservatorship, which has controlled her money and personal affairs since 2008.
Spears went on to ask for an end to the “abusive” conservatorship, and called for the judge to grant her control over her own personal and estate affairs.
She detailed her experience under the conservatorship and the alleged control her management and father held over her personal and professional life. This included them allegedly forcing her to perform.
“I am not happy, I can’t sleep. I’m so angry, it’s insane. And I’m depressed,” Spears said angrily.
One of the painful aspects of her testimony was the fact that her team allegedly did not want her to get pregnant with another child.
“I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” she said. “I have an IUD inside of myself so that I don’t get pregnant, but (my team doesn’t) want me to have any more children.”
Updates about Spears’ entire testimony can be found at our live blog here.
